field garlic, Allium vineale

Aren't these pretty! Such a rich shade of purple. But pretty is as pretty does. Field garlic has NO redeeming social value. I remember these from a misspent gastronomic childhood. Why were we always looking for things to eat? It was easy to recognize this as something to do with onions. But it turns out they have a special kind of yuck. The guy for Wiki that compares them favorably to garlic is wrong! But they're a hardy bunch, spread from the Mediterranean to just about anywhere that doesn't want a weed. Here they grow in all states except AZ, CO, HI, MN, ND, NH, NM, NV, SD, TX, UT, and WY, and they're in BC, ON, and QC. Lenawee Co MI, 6/23/12.