Ramp

I have been waiting to introduce you to ramp for a few months now. It was only recently that I was able to capture the right picture to complete the story.

It’s not much of a story really. Just a little ditty about an often overlooked plant which is found in our woods. Allow me to introduce you to the wild leek – sometimes called wild garlic, other times called ramp. Wild leeks are beautiful in all their stages. First, in the spring, they carpet small patches of brown woodland with bright flashes of green. The leaves, which appear before and not with the flower, are very much like the wide green blades of tulip leaves. The dense patches of green they create in the woods are like bright billboards announcing the arrival of spring. I wish I had a picture for you.

The green is seen by many to be unspectacular at best. Once the leaves soak up enough sun and make their food they diminish into the brown forest floor and the flowers begin to emerge.

A patch of wild leeks

Without their green leaves the flowers seem somehow incomplete. Yet, at the same time, they are interesting for the same reason.

Closer inspection of the flower patch above would reveal the busy flight of bumblebees enraptured by the nectar they provide. For humans, the plants provide something even better – a small bulb at the base of the flower stem that smells and tastes very much like garlic. Strong garlic. Really strong garlic. There is a rule among eaters of ramp and other wild edibles that, if you are going to eat wild leeks you must make sure everyone else in your company does as well. The reason? Soon after eating you will begin to smell more like you rolled around in the ramp instead of eating it.

Pretty and potent

My favorite aspect of wild leeks happens in the fall, but we’re not there yet… Once pollinated by so many hungry bees, the flowers close up and begin the work of making seeds. Even now, with no flowers to tempt us, the plants are still attractive. The bright green balls reminding us of what’s to come.

Almost there

The best is yet to come. In the fall, the green pods dry and crack. As the old petals are peeled back the jewel-like seeds are revealed. Now, to some I am sure they don’t look particularly interesting but, out on the trail, looking right at them, they look like black pearls. They have a pearlescent sheen that defies the covering of any other berry or seed in the fall woods.

Treasure revealed

I don’t think the camera was able to do them the justice they deserve. Along with my favorite smelly pignuts, the seeds of wild leeks are one of the special fall treasures I am impatient for every year.

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