Ramsons

Ramsons - Allium ursinum

Alternative names
Wild Garlic
Description

Short to medium plant, often forming extensive colonies. Leaves 2 or 3 flat, bright green and smelling powerfully of garlic when bruised. Flowers white, starry 12 to 20 mm in a fairly dense, rounded umbel.

Designation

Indicator Species - Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Shaded places, woods, ditches, hedge banks.

When to see it

April to June.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly frequent throughout much of Britain.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 56 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records

Photo of the association

Portevinia maculata

The larvae of the hoverfly Portevinia maculata develop in the stem bases and bulbs of Ramsons and the very sluggish adults can normally be observed sitting on the leaves (or on nearby foliage), particularly in May when the plant is flowering.