This plant owes its name to its identity in many a language as bears’ garlic: it is called “bear’s onion” or “bear’s garlic” throughout Europe: in French, Italian, German, Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovenian, Serbo-Croat, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Romanian, Albanian, Estonian, Turkish, Azeri, Bashkir, and Kirghiz!
Ramsons is from the Saxon word hramsa, meaning “garlic”. It has been used in English cuisine since the time of Celtic Britons , over 1,500 years ago.
Early healers among the Celts, Gaels, Teutonic tribes and ancient Romans were familiar with the wild herb and called it in Latin herba salutaris, meaning ‘healing herb’. There is archaeological evidence of its use by mankind during the Neolithic, three millenia BCE.
The major contributor to the smell of freshly crushed garlic is the sulfur-containing allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate). It arises, when a garlic clove is crushed, from the precursor alliin being cleaved by the enzyme alliinase. Ramson also sports that enzyme, it transforms another sulfur-containing precursor, methiin, into a similarly-smelling derivative.
Allium ursinum is a perennial herbaceous species. It is native to damp shaded woods in Europe and northern Asia. The plant develops two to three deep green basal leaves, smooth, flat, elliptic-lanceolate with a distinct, well- developed blade, with a single main vein, sharpened at the apex, and gradually narrowed into petiole at the base. The width of these leaves is 2–6 cm (0.8-2.5 in) while their length is 12-15 cm (5-6 in). The leaves resemble those of colchicum and lily of the valley, which are toxic: one conjectures such mimetism a defensive ploy against herbivores.
Ramson grows up to a third of a meter (0.5-1 ft). The aerial parts of the plant consist of a three-sided erect, flower stem, solid in cross-section. Atop a stalk, there is a semispherical umbel-like inflorescence, composed of 3–30 starry, snowy-white flowers.
Its bulb is narrow, elongated, about 1.5–6 cm (0.7-2;5 in) long. Contractile roots start to develop approximately from the age of three years. When the soil is soft enough to enable the roots to dwell deeper and deeper, after 10 years they can reach down the level even 27 cm (1 ft) lower.
Most of the seeds remain dormant for a couple of years, however, some germinate in the course of upcoming winter or spring, usually from November to March. A dense carpet of Allium ursinum can produce a large number of seeds annually, even 10,000 seeds/m 2 as recorded in a German forest.
Leaves and flowers may be eaten raw (salads) or cooked (addition to soups, sauces or stews). Leaf flavor fades as the flowers begin to bloom.
Underground bulbs can also be eaten raw or cooked. As for health benefits, alliicin has antimicrobial and antiparasitic properties. It shows in addition antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic and immunomodulatory effects, besides being a cardioprotective agent.
All in all, a handsome and beneficial plant!