Collecting wild garlic safely – and never confusing it with lily of the valley or autumn crocus
Wild garlic grows in moist deciduous woods in spring, often as a large green carpet, and tastes strongly of garlic. It is one of the most popular wild plants – and every year people are poisoned because they pick lily of the valley, autumn crocus or lords-and-ladies instead. Here you learn to check leaf by leaf: stalk, underside, veins and growth form. Smell alone is never enough.
- Practising recognition: one season first without eating; collecting 20–30 minutes when every leaf is checked singly
Spiegato in modo semplice
Wild garlic is a herb from the woods that tastes like garlic. In spring it often grows so densely in damp places that the whole forest floor is green and smells of garlic.
The dangerous part: next to it there are sometimes plants that look very similar but are poisonous – lily of the valley, autumn crocus and lords-and-ladies. That is why you never pick a whole handful at once, but look at every leaf on its own.
With wild garlic every leaf has its own thin stalk, the underside is matt, and the veins run straight next to each other. Only when all of that is right do you smell it – with clean fingers. If you are not sure, you leave the leaf.
Come funziona
Wild garlic is an onion plant, a close relative of garlic and chives. In spring, usually two leaves sprout from a small bulb in the ground, each on its own stalk. The plant uses the time before the trees are in leaf to soak up light. As soon as the canopy closes, it retreats into the bulb again.
The garlic smell only forms when cells are damaged: then sulphur compounds react with each other. That is exactly why they cling so well to your fingers – and exactly why the smell test is no longer reliable after the first leaf.
Lily of the valley, autumn crocus and lords-and-ladies like similar sites. They sprout at the same time and also have smooth, elongated leaves. But differences show in how they grow: how the leaves come out of the ground, whether they have stalks and how the veins run.
Ciò che conta davvero
The most important rule is patience: leaf by leaf. With a knife or scissors you cut single leaves at the stalk and look at each one before it goes into the bag. Anyone who pulls up bunches soon has a poisonous leaf among many good ones.
Get to know the site before you harvest. Anyone who sees a wild garlic patch flowering in May – white star flowers in a round umbel – knows that wild garlic grows there. Still watch edges and gaps: lily of the valley likes to grow at the edge of a wild garlic carpet, autumn crocus more on neighbouring meadows.
Never mix wild garlic with other herbs in the same bag. At home check everything once more on a light cloth before you wash and use it.
Sicurezza: a cosa devi fare attenzione
Autumn crocus and lily of the valley are not mildly poisonous plants. Poisoning can be life-threatening, and with autumn crocus symptoms often only start hours after eating – when you are long no longer thinking about the plant.
Anyone who gets nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach cramps, an irregular heartbeat or dizziness after a wild garlic dish calls the poison line at once (in Austria the Poison Information Centre), and with breathing problems or reduced consciousness the emergency number 112 or 144. Keep leftovers of the food and the plants. Do not induce vomiting.
Wild garlic collected close to the ground should be washed thoroughly because fox tapeworm eggs can stick to the leaves. Anyone who wants to be completely safe cooks it briefly.
Passo dopo passo
When and where wild garlic grows
Wild garlic sprouts in March and flowers around April and May, then the leaves turn yellow and disappear until the next spring. It loves moist, shady deciduous and floodplain woods with loose soil and often forms large, dense carpets there. Remember places where you have seen it in flower – you can return to them safely next spring.
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When and where wild garlic grows
Wild garlic sprouts in March and flowers around April and May, then the leaves turn yellow and disappear until the next spring. It loves moist, shady deciduous and floodplain woods with loose soil and often forms large, dense carpets there. Remember places where you have seen it in flower – you can return to them safely next spring.
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Every leaf has its own stalk
Run your fingers down the leaf to the ground. With wild garlic every leaf comes out of the ground singly on its own thin stalk. The stalk is about as long as a finger. Two leaves that sit inside each other at the bottom, or leaves without a stalk right at the ground, are a warning sign.
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Underside and veins
Turn the leaf over. With wild garlic the upper side is glossy and the underside is matt. The veins run parallel from the stalk to the tip, with a clear midrib. The leaf is soft and lance-shaped, i.e. elongated with a point, and up to about a hand long.
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Rule out lily of the valley
Lily of the valley usually has two, rarely three leaves that come out of one shared stem rolled into each other at the bottom. The underside is glossy, the leaf is firmer. From May it carries white, hanging little bells on a stalk. If you see leaves rolled into each other, leave the whole patch.
Lily of the valley is poisonous in all parts.
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Rule out autumn crocus
Autumn crocus flowers purple in meadows in autumn; in spring you only see its leaves. They grow without a stalk as a tuft straight out of the ground, wrap around each other at the bottom like a tulip and are thicker and firmer than wild garlic. In spring there is often a green seed capsule in the middle. Never pick such stalkless tufts.
Autumn crocus can be fatal. There is no simple antidote.
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Rule out lords-and-ladies
Young lords-and-ladies leaves can look elongated at first, but soon become arrow-shaped with two lobes pointing back. Their veins form a net instead of parallel lines, and some leaves have dark spots. Even a small piece burns strongly in the mouth. A net of veins means: not wild garlic.
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Do the smell test properly
Wash your hands or scrub them clean with soil and water. Then crush a leaf you have already checked: it must smell strongly of garlic. The smell is a confirmation at the end, never the first or only test. If a leaf does not clearly smell, throw it away.
Smelly fingers deceive: the test gets less reliable with every leaf.
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Harvest leaf by leaf and use it
Cut single leaves at the stalk, at most one or two per plant, and leave the bulb in the ground. At home check every leaf once more on a light cloth. Wash thoroughly. Raw, wild garlic tastes good finely chopped on bread, in soup or as a paste with oil and salt. Cooking makes it milder – add it at the end.
Errori comuni
- Pulling up bunches instead of leaf by leaf
- Relying only on the garlic smell
- Collecting where lily of the valley grows in between
- Mixing wild garlic and other herbs in one bag
- Digging up whole plants with the bulb
- Mangiarla senza lavarla
Panoramica rapida
Materiale
Coltello (a lama fissa o con blocco della lama)
Or scissors – cut leaf by leaf, the bulb stays in the ground
Taglia lontano dal corpo.
Le regole sul trasporto dei coltelli variano da regione a regione – controlla le regole del posto.
Sacchetto o cesto da raccolta ben aerato
Only wild garlic in it, no other plants
Raccogliere ogni specie separatamente, così nulla di sconosciuto si mescola
Niente sacchetti di plastica per tempi lunghi: la verdura suda e si guasta
Sacca per l'acqua per alimenti
Clean water for washing the leaves and your hands
Usare solo per l'acqua potabile, mai per sostanze chimiche o combustibili.
Guida al riconoscimento delle piante selvatiche (per la tua regione)
Un libro non sostituisce l'esercizio con una persona esperta
Le app di riconoscimento possono sbagliare: non affidarti mai solo a loro
Adatto a
- March to May, before and during flowering
- Fresh greens and flavour for simple supplies
- Foragers who are willing to check every leaf singly
Non adatto a
- Harvesting in bunches or with a scythe
- Places where lily of the valley or autumn crocus grow in between
- Letting children collect without supervision
Prerequisiti
- Having consciously looked at lily of the valley, autumn crocus and lords-and-ladies before
- Clean hands before the smell test
- A site where you have already seen wild garlic in flower
Sicurezza
- Plants close to the ground can be contaminated with soil, droppings and fox tapeworm eggs. Wash thoroughly or cook, and wash your hands afterwards.
- Do not collect by roads, on sprayed fields, dog meadows or in nature reserves. Only take a handful for yourself, never strip whole stands, and ask first in other people's gardens.
Come funziona
Wild garlic and its poisonous look-alikes have similar, elongated, smooth leaves. But they differ in the way the leaves come out of the ground, in the underside of the leaf, in the pattern of the veins and in the flower. Only when all features of one leaf fit wild garlic may it go into the bag.
Vantaggi
- Strong flavour improves simple supplies
- Often grows in large amounts
- Goes well with bread, soup, rice and pasta
- The flower confirms the identification
Svantaggi
- Dangerous look-alikes grow right next to it
- Only a few weeks in spring
- Quasi nessuna caloria
- Demands patience: leaf by leaf
Approfondimento
Contesto tecnico
Wild garlic has been a spring herb in Central Europe for centuries, and in many regions it is sold at markets. Precisely because it is so popular, poison centres report confusions with lily of the valley and autumn crocus every spring, including serious cases.
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment advises only collecting plants you know reliably, and if in doubt buying wild garlic instead. Anyone who wants to collect it themselves is best taught by an experienced person and first looks at the site while it is in flower.
Varianti
- Wild garlic paste
- Finely chop checked, washed and well-dried leaves, mix with salt and oil and fill into a clean jar so the oil covers the leaves. Keep in the fridge and use within a few days – herbs in oil spoil when not chilled.
- Buds and flowers
- The white star flowers in umbels and the closed buds also taste of garlic and are a confirmation: whoever sees the flower definitely has wild garlic. Sprinkle them over salad or soup as seasoning.
Errori comuni
- Pulling up bunches instead of leaf by leaf
- Relying only on the garlic smell
- Collecting where lily of the valley grows in between
- Mixing wild garlic and other herbs in one bag
- Digging up whole plants with the bulb
- Mangiarla senza lavarla
Limiti e rischi
- Non è una chiave di determinazione completa
- Vale per l'Europa centrale
- Nessuna promessa di guarigione
- Collecting rules differ by country and protected area
Alternative di materiali
Ricavate dalle proprietà dei materiali: un sostituto deve avere tutte le proprietà rilevanti. Tieni conto delle note sul sostituto.
- Sacchetto o cesto da raccolta ben aerato
- Pentola di metallo (acciaio inox, alluminio, titanio) (Calda: pericolo di ustioni.), Bottiglia in acciaio inox a parete singola (Scalda solo bottiglie a parete singola, senza vernice o plastica; togli il tappo prima di scaldare.), Bottiglia isolata a doppia parete (Non scaldare mai direttamente.), Bottiglia in PET (trasparente, max 2 litri) (Non scaldare e non mettere sul fuoco.), Tanica per acqua adatta agli alimenti (Usa solo contenitori che non hanno mai contenuto sostanze chimiche o carburante.), Contenitore per alimenti ermetico e adatto al contatto con il cibo (Riempi solo quando è pulito e completamente asciutto; non usare mai contenitori che prima contenevano prodotti chimici.), Contenitore o sacca d'acqua pieghevole (Proteggere da oggetti appuntiti.), Brocca graduata, Sacca per l'acqua per alimenti (Usare solo per l'acqua potabile, mai per sostanze chimiche o combustibili.), Barattolo o vaso per fermentazione (Usa solo contenitori adatti agli alimenti, in vetro, in gres smaltato idoneo al contatto con gli alimenti o in plastica per alimenti – niente contenitori di metallo per alimenti acidi.), Sacchetti per alimenti richiudibili (Usa solo sacchetti adatti agli alimenti; non usarli con acqua bollente, a meno che il produttore non lo consenta esplicitamente.), Contenitore rigido per la raccolta (scatola, cesto o tazza) (Una specie per contenitore – non mescolare mai nulla di sconosciuto)
- Sacca per l'acqua per alimenti
- Bottiglia in acciaio inox a parete singola (Scalda solo bottiglie a parete singola, senza vernice o plastica; togli il tappo prima di scaldare.), Bottiglia isolata a doppia parete (Non scaldare mai direttamente.), Bottiglia in PET (trasparente, max 2 litri) (Non scaldare e non mettere sul fuoco.), Tanica per acqua adatta agli alimenti (Usa solo contenitori che non hanno mai contenuto sostanze chimiche o carburante.), Contenitore per alimenti ermetico e adatto al contatto con il cibo (Riempi solo quando è pulito e completamente asciutto; non usare mai contenitori che prima contenevano prodotti chimici.), Contenitore o sacca d'acqua pieghevole (Proteggere da oggetti appuntiti.), Barattolo o vaso per fermentazione (Usa solo contenitori adatti agli alimenti, in vetro, in gres smaltato idoneo al contatto con gli alimenti o in plastica per alimenti – niente contenitori di metallo per alimenti acidi.), Sacchetti per alimenti richiudibili (Usa solo sacchetti adatti agli alimenti; non usarli con acqua bollente, a meno che il produttore non lo consenta esplicitamente.)
I risultati provengono esclusivamente da voci strutturate. Non vengono generate istruzioni improvvisate.
Fonti (5)
- Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR): Giftpflanzen: Wie kann man sich schützen und was ist bei einer Vergiftung zu tun? (Fragen und Antworten) · Wild garlic confused with lily of the valley and autumn crocus, serious poisoning possible; only collect what you know reliably; what to do in case of poisoning
- Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) (2017): Risiko Pflanze – Einschätzung und Hinweise · Lily of the valley, autumn crocus and lords-and-ladies as poisonous plants in gardens and the wild
- Robert Koch-Institut: RKI-Ratgeber Echinokokkose · Trasmissione della tenia della volpe attraverso uova ingerite; lavare, riscaldare, lavarsi le mani
- Bundesrepublik Deutschland (gesetze-im-internet.de) (2009): Gesetz über Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz – BNatSchG), insbesondere § 39 und § 30 · Not damaging wild plants without good reason; personal-use handful rule; protected areas
- Gesundheitsportal Österreich (gesundheit.gv.at), Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz: Vergiftungsinformationszentrale (VIZ) · Centro antiveleni in Austria (VIZ), attivo 24 ore su 24; in caso di pericolo acuto 112 o 144