Tunceli garlic | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
clade: | Angiosperms |
clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
Subfamily: | Allioideae |
Genus: | Allium |
Species: | A. tuncelianum |
Binomial name | |
Allium tuncelianum (Kollmann) Özhatay, B.Mathew & Şiraneci [1] |
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Synonyms | |
A. macrochaetum subsp. tuncelianum Kollmann |
Allium tuncelianum is a species of wild onion which is endemic to the Munzur Valley in Tunceli, in eastern Turkey. It has a garlic odor and taste and is used locally like garlic.[3] Its common names include Tunceli garlic and Ovacik garlic.[3] Botanists have suggested this species may be a close relative of garlic, and perhaps an ancestor of garlic, but genetic analysis shows that it is actually more closely related to leek.[3] The plant is collected from the wild for use in cooking, a phenomenon that threatens the plant with extinction.[3]