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{{Otheruses}}
{{expert-subject|Plants}}
{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Leek
| image = Leeks.JPG
| image_width = 250px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asparagales]]
| familia = [[Alliaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Allium]]''
| species = ''[[Allium ampeloprasum|A. ampeloprasum]]''
| subspecies = '''''A. ampeloprasum'' var. ''porrum'''''
| trinomial = ''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''porrum''
| trinomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) [[Jacques Étienne Gay|J.Gay]]
}}
The '''leek''' (''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''porrum'' (L.)) is a [[vegetable]] belonging, along with the [[onion]] and [[garlic]], 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.).
==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 [[greenhouse]]s, 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.
==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.
==Cuisine==
[[Image:Leeks produce-1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|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 soup|cock-a-leekie]] and of [[vichyssoise]]. They can also be used raw in salads, doing especially well when they are the prime ingredient.
Because of their symbolism in [[Wales]] (see below), they have come to be used extensively in that country's cuisine.
{{clr}}
==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<sup>nd</sup> 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<sup>nd</sup> millennium B.C.<ref>Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, ''Domestication of plants in the Old World'', third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000),p. 195</ref> The leek was the favorite vegetable of the Emperor [[Nero]], who consumed it most often in soup.
The leek is one of the [[national emblem]]s of [[Wales]], whose citizens wear it on [[St. David's Day]]. According to [[Welsh mythology|legend]], [[Cadwaladr|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 (play)|Henry V]]. In the play, [[Henry V of England|Henry]] tells [[Fluellen]] that he is wearing a leek "for I am Welsh, you know, good countryman". The 1985 and 1990 [[British One Pound coin]]s bear the design of a leek in a [[coronet]], representing Wales.
<gallery>
Image:Leek flowers.jpg|Leek flowers
Image:Double Leek Flower Head 2400px.jpg|Two blooming flower heads
Image:Single Leek Flower Head 2000px.jpg|Closeup of a blooming flower head
</gallery>
==See also==
*[[List of vegetables]]
*[[Culture of Wales]]
== Notes ==
<references/>
==External links==
{{commonscat|Allium ampeloprasum porrum}}
{{Cookbook|Leek}}
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALAM Allium ampeloprasum L.] on US National PLANTS Database
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALPO2 Allium porrum L.] on US National PLANTS Database
*[http://www.floridata.com/ref/A/alli_amp.cfm Allium ampeloprasum, Porrum] on Floridata
*[http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Allium+porrum Leek]: Plants For a Future database
*[http://www.foodmuseum.com/leek.html Food Museum page]
*[http://www.foodsdatabase.com/LinkedLabel.aspx?FoodId=24458 Nutrition facts]
[[Category:Allium]]
[[Category:Leaf vegetables]]
[[Category:National symbols of Wales]]
[[Category:Root vegetables]]
[[Category:Welsh cuisine]]
[[Category:Welsh mythology]]
{{expert-subject|Plants}}
{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Leek
| image = Leeks.JPG
| image_width = 250px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asparagales]]
| familia = [[Alliaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Allium]]''
| species = ''[[Allium ampeloprasum|A. ampeloprasum]]''
| subspecies = '''''A. ampeloprasum'' var. ''porrum'''''
| trinomial = ''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''porrum''
| trinomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) [[Jacques Étienne Gay|J.Gay]]
}}
The '''leek''' (''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''porrum'' (L.)) is a [[vegetable]] belonging, along with the [[onion]] and [[garlic]], 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.).
==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 [[greenhouse]]s, 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.
==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.
==Cuisine==
[[Image:Leeks produce-1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|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 soup|cock-a-leekie]] and of [[vichyssoise]]. They can also be used raw in salads, doing especially well when they are the prime ingredient.
Because of their symbolism in [[Wales]] (see below), they have come to be used extensively in that country's cuisine.
{{clr}}
==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<sup>nd</sup> 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<sup>nd</sup> millennium B.C.<ref>Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, ''Domestication of plants in the Old World'', third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000),p. 195</ref> The leek was the favorite vegetable of the Emperor [[Nero]], who consumed it most often in soup.
The leek is one of the [[national emblem]]s of [[Wales]], whose citizens wear it on [[St. David's Day]]. According to [[Welsh mythology|legend]], [[Cadwaladr|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 (play)|Henry V]]. In the play, [[Henry V of England|Henry]] tells [[Fluellen]] that he is wearing a leek "for I am Welsh, you know, good countryman". The 1985 and 1990 [[British One Pound coin]]s bear the design of a leek in a [[coronet]], representing Wales.
<gallery>
Image:Leek flowers.jpg|Leek flowers
Image:Double Leek Flower Head 2400px.jpg|Two blooming flower heads
Image:Single Leek Flower Head 2000px.jpg|Closeup of a blooming flower head
</gallery>
==See also==
*[[List of vegetables]]
*[[Culture of Wales]]
== Notes ==
<references/>
==External links==
{{commonscat|Allium ampeloprasum porrum}}
{{Cookbook|Leek}}
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALAM Allium ampeloprasum L.] on US National PLANTS Database
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALPO2 Allium porrum L.] on US National PLANTS Database
*[http://www.floridata.com/ref/A/alli_amp.cfm Allium ampeloprasum, Porrum] on Floridata
*[http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Allium+porrum Leek]: Plants For a Future database
*[http://www.foodmuseum.com/leek.html Food Museum page]
*[http://www.foodsdatabase.com/LinkedLabel.aspx?FoodId=24458 Nutrition facts]
[[Category:Allium]]
[[Category:Leaf vegetables]]
[[Category:National symbols of Wales]]
[[Category:Root vegetables]]
[[Category:Welsh cuisine]]
[[Category:Welsh mythology]]
