Article Nº 0148 Plant Vol. I · p. 88
Garlic
Original title: Alho
Describes the garlic species known in Madeira: common garlic, leek-garlic and the American wild garlic, noting the culinary and medicinal uses of common garlic.
Garlic belongs to the family Liliaceae, and the best-known kinds in Madeira are common garlic (Allium sativum), leek-garlic (A. ampeloprasum) and wild or American garlic (Nothoscordum inodorum). In common garlic the bulb is made up of bulblets (cloves) enclosed in a common skin. This species is widely grown in Madeira and Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) for culinary purposes, and it has diuretic, vermifuge and antiseptic properties. Wild garlic, native to subtropical America, is a plant that spreads with extreme ease both by its bulbs and by its seeds.
Places mentioned