Triquetrous garlic

Allium triquetrum, the triquetrous garlic or three-cornered leek, is a bulbous perennial herb in the family Amaryllidaceae native to the western Mediterranean basin, from Iberia and southern France to North Africa, and widely naturalized in milder temperate regions including the British Isles, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific coast of North America. Plants arise from small ovoid bulbs 10-20 mm in diameter, producing 2-3 basal linear leaves 15-40 cm long that are flat or shallowly grooved and emit a mild garlic odor when crushed. The flowering scape is distinctively three-angled (triquetrous) in cross-section and reaches 15-45 cm tall, terminating in a one-sided umbel of 3-15 pendulous bell-shaped white flowers, each tepal bearing a fine green midline stripe. Flowering occurs from late winter through spring. The fruit is a small dehiscent capsule containing black seeds, but the plant spreads vigorously by bulb offsets and is regarded as an invasive weed in several countries. It favors damp shaded ground, woodland edges, hedgerows, and disturbed soils.