Ramps

Allium tricoccum, commonly known as ramps, ramson, wild leek, wood leek or wild garlic, is a bulbous perennial in the amaryllis family. It is a North American wild onion found in eastern Canada and the eastern United States, in rich, moist woods. Both the white lower leaf stalks and the broad green leaves are edible, with a strong garlic-like odour and a pronounced onion flavour, and ramps are an early spring vegetable in the cuisines of the rural uplands. The Menominee, Cherokee, Haudenosaunee, Potawatomi and Ojibwa all eat the plant in their traditional cuisines. The Cherokee eat it as a spring tonic, for colds and for croup, and use the warm juice for earaches. The Ojibwa use a decoction as a quick-acting emetic, and the Haudenosaunee use a root decoction to treat worms in children. The city of Chicago is named from a French rendering of a Miami–Illinois name for the plant. Several American towns hold ramp festivals each spring.