Allium tricoccum Ait.
Researcher: Elise George

Common Names
Ramps
Wild leek
Wood leek

Genus              Allium L. (108 species)

Family                         Liliaceae – Lily family (105 genera)
Synonyms        VATR Validallium tricoccum (Ait.) Small

Relatives:

eg. Allium burdickii (narrowleaf wild leek), Allium ampeloprasum L. (exotic broadleaf wild leek), Allium L. (onion)

Duration: Perennial

Morphology:
            Habit Forb/herb
Height 6-18in.
            Stems single stem

Leaves 1-3 per plant, long narrow
(2 ½ in. wide) meeting at neck of bulb
emerge in early spring, persist for
five-to-eight weeks, and die back as days lengthen and temperature rises in late
spring

Flowers A leafless scape (flower stalk with
a single bud) most often develops after leaves have died back.  This develops into an inflorescence or cluster of small cream-colored flowers blooming in mid-summer.

Fruit In August, flowers develop into
three-lobed capsules each containing a
single shiny black seed.

Roots Consist of a small bulb, which grows
as leaves produce sugars and send them to
the bulb for storage. Can divide in the fall
into two and sometimes three bulbs. Most reproduction is by bulb division.
           
Pollination: Little is known.  Bumblebees
and ants have been observed working the
flowers by commercial ramp grower Glen Facemire.  Seed dispersed by ants and
possibly spiders.

Habitat: Rich moist deciduous woods,
both on upland and floodplain sites, moist
beech-maple-hemlock stands, cove forests
and northern hardwood associations, moist slopes, depressions, and streamside flats in northern extension of its range and colluvial mountain slopes in southern extension of its
range

Associations:  Trillium, toothwort, nettle, black cohosh, ginseng, bloodroot, trout lily, mayapple and bellwort

Native Range: Deciduous forests of eastern North America.  Southern range limit is in the southern Appalachians of North Carolina and Tennessee, while the northern range limit is in southern Quebec and the western range limit is Missouri and Minnesota.  

Pests/diseases:  Little is known about the pests and diseases of ramps.  Septoria leaf spot causes a spotting on the leaves but does not seem to affect bulb growth or flowering.  Because leaves are sold with the bulb, however, this may affect the marketability of the herb.  Commercial ramp grower Glen Facemire has not had any problems with disease.  

Other threats: Turkey will browse on baby ramps, leaves and bulbs while deer will browse on leaves.  In West Virginia, ramp grower Glen Facemire has reported a worm eating some of his big bulbs some years in July, often killing the bulb. 

Conservation status:
In Maine, ramps (“wild leek”) are listed as of “Special Concern” and in Tennessee they are listed as “Special Concern, Commercially Exploited.”

Throughout the eastern mountain ranges, annual ramp festivals have become more and more popular, leading to an increase in harvest levels, which has caused great damage to wild populations.  Also, ramps recently have been discovered by gourmet cooks, thus increasing demand for large consistent supplies of this wild herb. 

Excessive harvesting is a serious threat to individual populations of ramps, according to studies in Canada and Ohio.  In Quebec at the edge of wild leek’s range, commercial harvesting is such a concern that remnant ramp populations rarely contain more than a few hundred individuals, while the minimum viable population size there is 300-1030 plants.