Elephant garlic [SEP] parent taxon
Elephant garlic
Elephant garlic ("Allium ampeloprasum" var. "ampeloprasum") is a perennial plant belonging to the onion genus. It is not a true garlic, but actually a variant of the garden leek. It has a tall, solid, flowering stalk and broad, flat leaves much like those of the leek, but forms a bulb consisting of very large, garlic-like cloves. The flavor of these, while not exactly like garlic, is much more similar to garlic than to leeks. The flavor
as a closer relative of leek than of garlic.
Cultivation.
Elephant garlic can be planted at two different times of the year: spring and autumn. In warmer areas, it can be grown over winter for a late-spring harvest.
Further reading.
- Garlic and Elephant Garlic, National Vegetable Society (UK)
- demonstrating planting and harvesting elephant garlic by the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County, California.