Japanese name: ラッキョウ（辣韮） Scientific name:Allium chinense
[Overview]
A perennial thought to have originated in China.
The 6 to 10-odd white to purplish-white bulbs formed underground are eaten.
The bulbs have a distinctive strong smell and pungency, and those blanched by earthing up are used raw.
The leaves grow in clusters from the tip of the bulb and are linear, 30–60 cm long, flat on the inner side and rounded on the back, covered with a waxy substance and giving off a distinctive smell.
The aboveground parts die back in summer, and the plant becomes dormant.
In autumn it extends a flower stalk 40–60 cm long, bearing a hemispherical umbel at the tip.
The flowers are somewhat bell-shaped and purple, with 6 tepals and flower stalks 2.5–3 cm long.
It does not set fruit.
[History]
In Japan it is recorded in the Engishiki (927), and it seems to have been introduced at first for medicinal use.
[Cultivation]
It is hardy and grows well even in poor soil.
It prefers a well-drained, sunny site.
Propagation is vegetative, by bulbs.
Diseases and pests include gray mold, dry rot and aphids.
