Allium reticulatum St.-Lag. 1880, illegitimate homonym not J. Presl & C. Presl 1819
Allium anguinum Bubani.
Allium victorialis, commonly known as victory onion, Alpine leek, and Alpine broad-leaf allium[5] is a broad-leaved Eurasian species of wild
onion. It is a perennial of the
Amaryllis family that occurs widely in mountainous regions of
Europe and parts of
Asia (
Caucasus and
Himalayas).[4][6]
Some authors consider certain
East Asian and
Alaskan populations as constituting subspecies platyphyllum within the species Allium victorialis.[7][8] Recent sources recognize this group as a distinct species, called Allium ochotense.[9][10][11][12][13]
General description
Allium victorialis attains a height of 30–45 cm (11.8–17.7 in) and forms a sheathed
bulb ("root-stalk") about the thickness of a finger and 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in) long.[14] Leaves are broad, elliptical or lanceolate. Flowers (
perianths) are whitish green.[14]
Distribution
Allium victorialis is found widely across mountain ranges
Europe, as well as the
Caucasus and the
Himalayas.[4]
Nomenclature
The
specific epithetvictorialis comes from the German Siegwurz (Root of Victory),[15] and it earned this name having been "worn as an amulet, to be as safeguard against the attacks of certain impure spirits," by Bohemian miners among others.[15]
Uses
The plant, in past centuries in certain mountainous regions of Europe, "was cultivated as a medicinal and fetish plant".[16] It was also recorded as consumed by Ainu people in northern Japan.[17]
^Holubec, V., Magos Brehm, J., Uzundzhalieva, K., Vögel, R., Vörösváry, G., Eliáš, P. & Duarte, M.C. (2011). Allium victorialis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T172231A6854104. Downloaded on 05 January 2019.