Description: This
native perennial plant produces basal leaves up to 8" long and 3½"
across on short petioles (usually 2 per bulb). The basal leaves are ovate-oval
to ovate-elliptic, dull green, hairless, and smooth along the margins. Their
petioles are reddish, hairless, and wrapped in a basal sheath. These leaves
develop during the spring and wither away by early summer. During early to
mid-summer, there develops a naked flowering stalk up to 1½' tall. This
stalk is terete, glabrous, and reddish to pale green; at its base, there is a
papery sheath. The stalk terminates in a single rounded umbel of flowers
spanning up to 2" across. At the base of this umbel, there is a pair of
deciduous bracts. Each flower is about ¼" across, consisting of 6 white
to translucent white tepals, a light green to pale yellow ovary, 6 stamens with
pale yellow anthers, and a single white style. At the base of each flower,
there is a slender white pedicel. The blooming period occurs during the summer
and lasts about 2 weeks. Both the flowers and foliage exude an onion-like odor.
After the blooming period, the ovary of each flower matures into a 3-celled
seed capsule; each cell contains a single seed. The root system consists of an
ovoid bulb with fibrous roots at its base. Offsets often develop, producing
vegetative colonies of plants.
Cultivation: The preference is dappled sunlight
during the spring when the basal leaves develop, while during the summer
considerable shade is tolerated. The soil should consist of a rich loose loam
with abundant organic matter, while moisture levels should be more or less
mesic. It is easiest to introduce new plants into an area by dividing and
transplanting the bulbs during the fall.
Range
& Habitat: Wild Leek occurs occasionally in the northern half of
Illinois; it is rare elsewhere in the state (see
Distribution
Map). Habitats include mesic deciduous woodlands and wooded bluffs. The
presence of this species is a sign that the original flora of a woodlands is
still in intact. An introduced species, Alliaria petiolata (Garlic
Mustard), can shade out the basal leaves of Wild Leek during the spring,
causing the latter to decline in abundance.
Faunal Associations: The flowers attract various
kinds of bees, including Halictid bees, Masked bees (Hylaeus spp.), honeybees,
bumblebees, and Mason bees. These insects suck nectar or collect pollen. To a
lesser extent, the flowers are visited by Syrphid flies, which suck nectar or
feed on pollen. Occasionally, the larvae of some flies, including Delia
spp. (Onion Maggot Flies) and Emerus spp. (Bulb Flies), feed on the
bulbs of Allium spp. (Onions). Deer and other mammalian herbivores
rarely browse on the foliage of Wild Leek.
Photographic Location: A mesic deciduous woodlands
at Busey Woods in Urbana, Illinois.
Comments: This woodland wildflower is somewhat
unusual because its foliage has withered away by the time the flowers bloom.
Both the foliage and flowers are attractive; the latter help to brighten the
gloomy corners of woodlands during the summer. Wild Leek has the widest basal
leaves (2–3½" across) of any Allium sp. in the state. A
similar species, Allium burdickii (which is also called 'Wild Leek'),
has basal leaves that are about 1-2" across. Other wild Allium spp. have
leaves that are narrow and strap-like (less than ½" across). Wild Leek
has about 25-50 flowers in each umbel, while Allium burdickii has 10-20
flowers in each umbel. Wild Leek has reddish leaf petioles and flowering stalks
that are often reddish at the base, while the petioles and stalks of Allium
burdickii are light green throughout. This latter species is restricted to
wooded areas in NE Illinois and it is less common.