Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Allium sphaerocephalon

Family

Amaryllidaceae

Flowering season

July.to August

English distribution

It is thinly scattered throughout the country but is more

common around Greater London

For a map see the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland –

Round-headed Leek

Habitat

 It may be native in the Avon Gorge and Jersey but it is a

neophyte in the rest of the UK. It has been grown in gardens 

since 1760 and recognised in the wild in the 1840s.

It is now widely grown in gardens from which it escapes into

the wild.

Description

Round-headed Leek is a bulbous herb growing up to 80cm.

Flowers are in a tight umbel forming a round oval several cm

in diameter.

Individual flowers have 6  pink-purple te, ovate sepals. up to

6mm..

There are 6 stamens with deep pink filaments and deep purple 

anthers. They protrude above the flowers.

There is a single, pink style with a white capitatecal and  stigma. This

also protrudes above the flower.

The flowerhead stem is green, round and up to 80cm.

The leaves are grooved, sub-cylindrical, slender and up to 60cm.

Fruits are capsules.