Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net wrote:
>Another question is for Mark McDonough
>and concerns Allium ursinum. {snip}
>is this: as Allium go, are A. ursinum and
>A. tricoccum closely related?
Hi Jim, and PBS crew,
I sort of answered this in part, in my last message, posted before seeing
your message because I receive my PBS posts in daily digest mode. How close the
two species are related, I don't know for sure, but they do indeed resemble
each other. It is also true, that Allium tricoccum or "ramps", stands quite
alone among the North American allium scene (unrelated to any other N. American
allium species), and possibly has relic affinity with Asian flora; the eastern
USA plant flora connection to Asian flora a known phenomenon. There is a
subspecies burdickii, at one point elevated to species standing (which was
ridiculous) and later reduced back to subspecies standing. This variant has red
petioles, reddish tinged leaves (traits found among the typical tricoccum as
well), and other very minor characteristics that vary only slightly from typical
tricoccum.
Believe it or not, I have never grown Allium ursinum, out of the hundreds of
Allium species and cultivars I have grown. I do have but one single bulb of
Allium tricoccum, which has persisted for some 20 years or more, and blooms
most years (although sometimes skips a year), but never increases... not even
into 2 bulbs! And I've never seen a seedling. I think it's too dry in my garden
for it to prosper. Different than A. ursinum, Allium tricoccum often
produces spring leaves that disappear totally when it blooms (that's how it behaves
in my garden), which is quite a bit different than the behavior of ursinum
where both flowers and leaves are present simultaneously, as far as I know.
Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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