View source for Ramsons

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Ramsons
| class="taxo-bild" | [[Bild:Ramsons 700.jpg|thumb|300px|Bärlauch (''Allium ursinum'')]]
| regnum = [[Plantae]]ia
| subregnum = [[Tracheobionta]]
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| subclassis = [[Liliidae]]
| ordo = [[Asparagales]]
| familia = [[Alliaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Allium]]''
| species = '''''A. ursinum'''''
| binomial = ''Allium ursinum''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''Ramsons''', '''buckrams''', '''wild garlic''', '''broad-leaved garlic''', '''wood garlic''' or '''bear's garlic''' (''Allium ursinum'') is a wild relative of [[chives]]. The specific name derives from the fact that [[brown bear]]s like to eat the bulbs of the plant and dig up the ground to get at them, as do [[wild boar]].  

Ramsons grow mainly in swampy [[deciduous]] woodlands, being most common in areas with slightly acidic soils. They flower before the trees get their leaves and fill the air with their characteristic strong smell.  The stem is triangular in shape and the leaves are like those of the [[Lily of the Valley]]. Unlike the related [[crow garlic]] and [[field garlic]], the flower-head contains no bulbils, only flowers.<ref>The [[Reader's Digest]] Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain ''p.383''.</ref>

The leaves are  collected and eaten as salad, boiled or as a kind of [[pesto]]. They were used as fodder as well. Cows that have fed on ramsons give milk that slightly tastes of garlic, and butter made from this milk used to be very popular in 19th century Switzerland.

The first evidence of the human use of ramsons comes from the [[mesolithic]] settlement of  Barkaer (Denmark) where an impression of a leaf has been found. In the Swiss [[neolithic]] settlement of [[Thayngen]]-Weier ([[Cortaillod culture]]) there is a high concentration of ramsons  [[pollen]] in the settlement layer, this has been interpreted as evidence for the use of ramsons as fodder.

Ramsons (German: Bärlauch, i.e. 'bear's leek') have recently become very popular in [[German cuisine]] again. The town of [[Eberbach (Baden)|Eberbach]] hosts an annual ramsons fair in March and April.

== See Also ==
*[[Wild leek|Ramps]]
*[[Allium ampeloprasum]] - (Broadleaf) Wild leek
*[[Allium vineale]] - Crow garlic
*[[Allium oleraceum]] - Field garlic
*[[w:ja:ギョウジャニンニク|Allium victorialis]] {{ja icon}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*Ramson at Gernot Katzer's [http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Alli_urs.html Spice Pages]
*[http://www.kochecke.com/cooking-recipe-soup-of-ramsons-bears-garlic.html Austrian cooking recipe for Ramsons Soup]
<br style="clear:all">
<gallery>
image:baerlauch.jpg|Young ramsons leaves in early spring
Image:2007-02-22 Baerlauch bei Mannheim.jpg|Young ramsons in late February 2007 (Germany, [[Rhine]] valley)
Image:Ramsons close 700.jpg|A close-up of the flowers and developing fruit
Image:Ramsons woodland 700.jpg|Ramsons may grow in great numbers, as in this woodland in [[North Devon]], England
</gallery>

[[Category:Allium]]
[[Category:Herbs]]

{{Link FA|de}}