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Amaryllidaceae FAMILY

Allium sativum ophioscorodon

Allium sativum ophioscorodon

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
5/5

Safety & Hazards

There have been cases of poisoning caused by the consumption, in large quantities and by some mammals, of this species. Dogs seem to be particularly susceptible[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Garlic was originally a plant of warm temperate areas with a distinct cold season and a change of daylength from short days in the winter to long days in the summer. In Spring, when days are cooler and shorter, the plant focuses mainly on leaf growth, but with lengthening, hotter days the focus moves to bulb production[2]. The plant can be grown in tropical areas, but only really succeeds at elevations above 500 metres, and preferably below 2,00 metres[3]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 30°c, but can tolerate 7 - 35°c[3]. It is able to tolerate temperatures down to at least -10°c[4]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 750 - 1,600mm, but tolerates 500 - 2,700mm[3]. Succeeds in most soils but prefers a sunny position in a moist light well-drained soil[5, 6, 7, 8]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 6.6, tolerating 5 - 8.5[3]. Dislikes very acid soils[4]. The bulb is liable to rot if grown in a wet soil[9, 10]. The bulbs should be planted fairly deeply[5]. Garlic is widely cultivated in most parts of the world for its edible bulb, which is used mainly as a flavouring in foods. This sub-species differs mainly in forming more bulbils on the flowering head, and this flowering head usually coils into 1- 2 loops before opening[2]. Since it produces these bulbils (which make an excellent garlic, though they are rather on the small side) as well as underground cloves, it can be more productive than normal garlic when grown as a perennial[PFAF]. We often grow this plant for a number of years before digging it up - it forms larger and larger clumps each year, with an abundance of bulbils[PFAF]. There are a number of named varieties[11]. Bulb formation occurs in response to increasing daylength and temperature[2]. It is also influenced by the temperature at which the cloves were stored prior to planting. Cool storage at temperatures between 0 and 10°c will hasten subsequent bulb formation, storage at above 25°c will delay or prevent bulb formation[2, 4].

Propagation

Plant out the cloves in late autumn for an early summer crop[12, 2]. They can also be planted in late winter to early spring though yields may not be so good. Plant the cloves with their noses just below the soil surface[2]. If the bulbs are left in the ground all year, they will often produce tender young leaves in the winter[PFAF]. Bulbils, harvested in late summer, are best sown immediately in pots in a cold greenhouse, planting out in late spring after the last expected frosts[PFAF]. They can also be stored in a cool place over the winter and then be planted outdoors like onion sets. They will not make such a big plant in their first year, however[PFAF]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Allium+sativum+ophioscorodon>

Pollinators

Bees, Insects

References

  1. [1]Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. — Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. · HMSO · 1984 · ISBN 0112425291 ↩︎Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  4. [4]Oriental Vegetables — Larkcom J. · John Murray · 1991 · ISBN 0-7195-4781-4 ↩︎Well written and very informative.
  5. [5]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  6. [6]Complete Guide to Herbs. — Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. · Rodale Press · 1979 · ISBN 0-87857-262-7 ↩︎A good herbal.
  7. [7]New Vegetable Growers Handbook. — Simons. · Penguin · 1977 · ISBN 0-14-046-050-0 ↩︎A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
  8. [8]The Gardener's Assistant. — Thompson. B. · Blackie and Son. · 1878 · ISBN - ↩︎Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.
  9. [9]The Vegetable Garden. — Vilmorin. A. · Ten Speed Press · ISBN 0-89815-041-8 ↩︎A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.
  10. [10]Salads all the Year Round. — Larkcom. J. · Hamlyn · 1980 ↩︎A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.
  11. [11]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  12. [12]Rare Vegetables for Garden and Table. — Organ. J. · Faber · 1960 · ISBN - ↩︎Unusual vegetables that can be grown outdoors in Britain. A good guide.
  13. [13]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  14. [14]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  15. [15]Herbs — Phillips. R. & Foy. N. · Pan Books Ltd. London. · 1990 · ISBN 0-330-30725-8 ↩︎Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
  16. [16]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  17. [17]Edible and Medicinal Plants. — Launert. E. · Hamlyn · 1981 · ISBN 0-600-37216-2 ↩︎Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
  18. [18]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  19. [19]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  20. [20]A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. — Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. · Houghton Mifflin Co. · 1990 · ISBN 0395467225 ↩︎A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
  21. [21]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  22. [22]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  23. [23]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  24. [24]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
  25. [25]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  26. [26]The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. — Mills. S. Y. ↩︎An excellent small herbal.
  27. [27]Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. — Chiej. R. · MacDonald · 1984 · ISBN 0-356-10541-5 ↩︎Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
  28. [28]A - Z of Companion Planting. — Allardice.P. · Cassell Publishers Ltd. · 1993 · ISBN 0-304-34324-2 ↩︎A well produced and very readable book.
  29. [29]Companion Plants. — Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. · Watkins · 1979 · ISBN - ↩︎Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.
  30. [30]Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. — Riotte. L. · Garden Way, Vermont, USA. · 1978 · ISBN 0-88266-064-0 ↩︎Fairly good.
  31. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎