This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject Plants may be able to help recruit one. If a more appropriate WikiProject or portal exists, please adjust this template accordingly. Leek is a vegetable belonging to the onion family. ... Image File history File links Emblem-important. ...

Leek
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Alliaceae Genus: Allium Species: A. ampeloprasum Subspecies: A. ampeloprasum var. porrum
Trinomial name
Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L.) J.Gay

The leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L.)) is a vegetable belonging, along with the onion, to the Alliaceae family. Also in this species are two very different vegetables: the elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum), grown for its bulbs, and kurrat, which is grown in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East for its leaves. The leek is also sometimes classified as Allium porrum (L.). Leek plants This picture was taken in Aug 2004 from the culinary garden in Kendall-Jackson Winery in Sonoma County, California. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. ... Liliopsida is the botanical name for a class. ... Families according to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group Agapanthus Agavaceae Alliaceae Amaryllidaceae Aphyllanthaceae Asparagaceae Asphodelaceae Asteliaceae Blandfordiaceae Boryaceae Doryanthaceae Hemerocallidaceae Hyacinthaceae Hypoxidaceae Iridaceae Ixioliriaceae Lanariaceae Laxmanniaceae Orchidaceae Ruscaceae Tecophilaeaceae Themidaceae Xanthorrhoea Xeronema Asparagales is an order of monocots which includes a number of families of non-woody plants. ... Genera See text Alliaceae is a family of herbaceous perennial flowering plants. ... Species Some important species: Allium acuminatum - tapertip onion Allium ampeloprasum var. ... Allium ampeloprasum, the Broadleaf Wild Leek, has been differentiated into three different cultivated vegetables, leek, Elephant garlic and Kurrat. ... Trinomial nomenclature is a taxonomic naming system that extends the standard system of binomial nomenclature by adding a third taxon. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 23, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... A plate of vegetables Vegetable is a culinary term which generally refers to an edible part of a plant. ... For other uses, see Onion (disambiguation). ... Genera See text Alliaceae is a family of herbaceous perennial flowering plants. ... Species Allium ampeloprasum Elephant Garlic or Russian garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ... Kurrat or Egyptian Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

Form

Rather than forming a tight bulb like the onion, the leek produces a long cylinder of bundled leaf sheaths which are generally blanched by pushing soil around them (trenching). They are often sold as small seedlings in flats which are started off early in greenhouses, to be planted out as weather permits. Once established in the garden, leeks are hardy; many varieties can be left in the ground during the winter to be harvested as needed. The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken. ...

Cultivars

Leek cultivars can be subdivided in several ways, but the most common types are "summer leeks", intended for harvest in the season when planted, and overwintering leeks, meant to be harvested in the spring of the year following planting. Summer leek types are generally smaller than overwintering types; overwintering types are generally more strongly flavored.

Growing

Leeks are easy to grow from seed and tolerate standing in the field for an extended harvest. Leeks usually reach maturity in the autumn months, and they have few pest or disease problems. Leeks can be bunched and harvested early when they are about the size of a finger or pencil, or they can be thinned and allowed to grow to a much larger mature size. Hilling leeks can produce better specimens. In agriculture or horticulture, hilling is the technique of piling soil up around the base of a plant. ...

Cuisine

Leeks for sale.

The edible portions of the Leek are the white onion base and light green stalk. The onion-like layers form around a core. The tender core may be eaten, but as the leek ages the core becomes woody and generally unusable. Leeks are an essential ingredient of cock-a-leekie and of vichyssoise. They can also be used raw in salads, doing especially well when they are the prime ingredient. Leeks for sale at Kroger. ... Leeks for sale at Kroger. ... Cock-a-leekie soup is a Scottish soup dish of leeks, potatoes, and chicken stock. ... Vichyssoise ([1], commonly mispronounced ) is a French-style soup made of puréed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock. ...

Because of their symbolism in Wales (see below), they have come to be used extensively in that country's cuisine.
This article is about the country. ...

Nutrition

Other Information

Dried specimens from archaeological sites in ancient Egypt, as well as wall carvings and drawings, led Zohary and Hopf to conclude that the leek was a part of the Egyptian diet "from at least the 2^nd millennium B.C. onwards." They also allude to surviving texts that show it had been also grown in Mesopotamia from the beginning of the 2^nd millennium B.C.^[1] The leek was the favorite vegetable of the Emperor Nero, who consumed it most often in soup. Khafres Pyramid and the Great Sphinx of Giza, built about 2550 BC during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom,[1] are enduring symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was a civilization in Northeastern Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River... For other uses, see Nero (disambiguation). ...

The leek is one of the national emblems of Wales, whose citizens wear it on St. David's Day. According to legend, King Cadwallader ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify themselves by wearing the vegetable on their helmets in an ancient battle against the Saxons that took place in a leek field. This story may have been made up by the English poet Michael Drayton, but it is known that the leek has been a symbol of Wales for a long time; Shakespeare, for example, refers to the custom of wearing a leek as an "ancient tradition" in Henry V. In the play, Henry tells Fluellen that he is wearing a leek "for I am Welsh, you know, good countryman". The 1985 and 1990 British One Pound coins bear the design of a leek in a coronet, representing Wales. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the country. ... Saint Davids Day (Welsh: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant - Day of the Festival of Saint David) is the day that the patron saint of Wales, Saint David, is celebrated. ... Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. ... Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon ( 633–682, reigned from 655) (Latin: Catuvelladurus; English: Cadwallader), also known as Cadwaladr Fendigaid (the Blessed) was a king of Gwynedd. ... For other uses, see Saxon (disambiguation). ... Drayton, 1628 Michael Drayton (1563 – December 23, 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Henry V, also known as The Cronicle History of Henry the fift, is a play by William Shakespeare based on the life of King Henry V of England. ... Henry V of England (16 September 1387 – 31 August 1422) was one of the great warrior kings of the Middle Ages. ... The circulating British one pound (£1) coin is minted from a nickel-brass alloy of approximately 70% copper, 24. ... Coin showing a coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. ...

Leek flowers Image File history File links Leek_flowers. ...

Two blooming flower heads Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2400x2000, 2425 KB) Source Own Picture Date Friday, June 30, 2006 Author Photo by Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) Permission You may NOT use this image on your own web site or anywhere else unless you release this image and any derivative...

Closeup of a blooming flower head Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2000x1852, 2205 KB) Source Own Picture Date Friday, June 30, 2006 Author Photo by Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) Permission You may NOT use this image on your own web site or anywhere else unless you release this image and any derivative...

See also

• List of vegetables
• Culture of Wales

This is a list of vegetables in the culinary sense, which means it includes some botanical fruits like pumpkins and doesnt include herbs, spices, cereals and most culinary fruits and culinary nuts. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

Notes

1. ^ Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, Domestication of plants in the Old World, third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000),p. 195

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Allium ampeloprasum porrum

Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on

Leek

• Allium ampeloprasum L. on US National PLANTS Database
• Allium porrum L. on US National PLANTS Database
• Allium ampeloprasum, Porrum on Floridata
• Leek: Plants For a Future database
• Food Museum page
• Leekspin, a popular leek-related site
• Nutrition facts