Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 29, 2026

Allium siculum

Allium siculum, known as honey garlic, Sicilian honey lily, Sicilian honey garlic, or Mediterranean bells, is a species of plant in the genus Allium. Native to parts of Europe and the Middle East, the species is grown commercially as an ornamental and culinary herb.

Last revised
Jun 29, 2026
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≈ 5 min
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
Honey garlic
Inflorescence
Foliage
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Subgenus: A. subg. Nectaroscordum
Species:
A. siculum
Binomial name
Allium siculum
Synonyms123
Synonymy
  • Allium bulgaricum (Janka) Prodán
  • Nectaroscordum siculum (Ucria) Lindl.
  • Nothoscordum siculum (Ucria) auct., published anonymously
  • Trigonea sicula (Ucria) Parl.
  • Nectaroscordum bulgaricum Janka
  • Allium meliophilum Juz.
  • Nectaroscordum meliophilum (Juz.) Stank.
  • Allium dioscoridis Sm.
  • Nectaroscordum dioscoridis (Sm.) Stankov

Allium siculum (syn. Nectaroscordum siculum), known as honey garlic,4 Sicilian honey lily, Sicilian honey garlic, or Mediterranean bells, is a species of plant in the genus Allium. Native to parts of Europe and the Middle East, the species is grown commercially as an ornamental and culinary herb.1

Description

It has showy clusters of gracefully drooping bell-shaped blossoms produced in May to early June sitting atop a tall green stem, up to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in height. The florets (blossoms), suspended on long drooping pedicels, are cream colored with a maroon streak down each petal, have white flared tips, and are tinted green at the base. The blossoms are followed by decorative, erect seed pods in late summer. The blue-gray foliage is triangular in cross-section and strongly twisting along the length of the ascending leaves.56 A penetrating, sulfuric odor is released when any part of this plant is cut or handled.

Distribution and habitat

Allium siculum is native to Turkey, Iran, Crimea, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, southern France including Corsica, and Italy (Basilicata, Abruzzo, Umbria, Toscana, Sicily, Sardinia),7 growing in damp, shady woodland areas.

Taxonomy

Allium siculum is a member of the Allium subgenus Nectaroscordum, which consists of only this species and Allium tripedale.8

A. siculum itself comprises two subspecies:

  • Allium siculum subsp. dioscoridis (Sm.) K.Richt. (Syn. Allium bulgaricum (Janka) Prodán, Allium dioscoridis Sm., Allium meliophilum Juz.,Nectaroscordum bulgaricum Janka, Nectaroscordum dioscoridis Sm., Nectaroscordum meliophilum (Juz.) Stank., Nectaroscordum siculum subsp. bulgaricum (Janka) Stearn) - native to Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Crimea, introduced in Great Britain9
  • Allium siculum subsp. siculum - native to France (including Corsica) and Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily)10

Uses

Ornamental

Allium siculum is grown as an ornamental in flower gardens.11 It has showy, drooping blossoms, with each umbel (clusters of flowers on stalks originating in the same place)12 having up to 30 individual flowers,11 which are white, pink, and green in colour.13 Although the flowers initially face downwards, they turn to face upwards just before forming seedheads.14 It also has unusual twisted foliage.15 Unlike the majority of other Allium species, A. siculum grows well in shade.16

Culinary

In Bulgaria, the leaves of Allium siculum subsp. dioscoridis, which is known by the vernacular names 'samardala' and 'Bulgarian honey garlic', are used in the preparation of traditional spice mixes.171819

Chemistry

The lachrymatory agent (Z)-butanethial S-oxide, along with several 1-butenyl thiosulfinates have been detected in crushed plant material by mass spectrometry using a DART ion source. (Z)-Butanethial S-oxide (the higher homolog of syn-propanethial-S-oxide, the onion lachrymatory agent) isolated from the plant was shown to be identical to a synthetic sample. The precursor to the active lachrymatory compound, (RS,RC)-(E)-S-(1-butenyl) cysteine S-oxide (homoisoalliin), was isolated from A. siculum, and a closely related species, Allium tripedale, and fully characterized.2021

A. siculum is unpalatable to grazing animals such as deer and, akin to garlic (Allium sativum), may be toxic to cats and dogs, likely owing to the sulfur compounds discussed above.1122

References

References

  1. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". wcsp.science.kew.org. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  2. |The Plant List, Allium siculum
  3. Kubec, R.; Kim, S.; McKeon, D. M.; Musah, R. A. (2002). "Isolation of S-butylcysteine sulfoxide and six butyl-containing thiosulfinates from Allium siculum". Journal of Natural Products. 65 (7): 960–964. doi:10.1021/np020064i. PMID 12141853.
  4. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  5. "Allium Species Four". Pacific Bulb Society.
  6. "Nectaroscordum siculum". Royal Horticultural Society. Archived from the original on 2014-03-29. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  7. Altervista Flora Italiana, Aglio della Sicilia, Allium siculum
  8. Friesen, N.; Fritsch, R. M.; Blattner, F. R. (2006). "Phylogeny and new intrageneric classification of Allium (Alliaceae) based on nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS sequences". Aliso. 22: 372–395. doi:10.5642/aliso.20062201.31.
  9. "Allium siculum subsp. dioscoridis (Sm.) K.Richt". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  10. "Allium siculum subsp. siculum". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  11. "Allium siculum Ucria". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Archived from the original on 2017-09-06. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  12. "Definition of umbel". Lexico.com. Oxford University Press. 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-11-02. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  13. "Nectaroscordum siculum". BBC Gardeners' World Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  14. Leendertz, Lia (2011-09-16). "Plant of the week: Nectaroscordum siculum". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2016-05-21. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  15. Mashayekhi, Saeideh; Columbus, J. Travis (2014). "Evolution of leaf blade anatomy in Allium (Amaryllidaceae) subgenus Amerallium with a focus on the North American species". American Journal of Botany. 101 (1): 63–85. doi:10.3732/ajb.1300053. ISSN 1537-2197. PMID 24384305.
  16. "Planting for Pollinators" (PDF). royalparks.org.uk. The Royal Parks. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  17. Ivanova, Teodora; Chervenkov, Mihail; Stoeva, Tatyana; Chervenkov, Stoyan; Bosseva, Yulia; Georgieva, Almira; Tsvetanova, Elina; Alexandrova, Albena; Dimitrova, Dessislava (2018-06-01). "Samardala: specificities and changes in the ethnobotanical knowledge about Allium siculum subsp. dioscoridis (Sm.) K. Richt. in Bulgaria". Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 65 (5): 1349–1357. doi:10.1007/s10722-018-0618-5. ISSN 1573-5109. S2CID 3748750.
  18. Vrancheva, R.; Stoyanova, M.; Mihaylova, D.; Aneva, I.; Deseva, I.; Petkova, N.; Ivanov, I.; Pavlov, A. (October 2019). "Polyphenol profile and antioxidant activity of wild growing populations of Nectaroscordum siculum ssp. bulgaricum (Janka) Stearn in Bulgaria" (PDF). International Food Research Journal. 26 (5): 1635–1640.
  19. Alexieva, Iordanka; Mihaylova, Dasha; and Popova, Aneta (2013). Evaluation of the antioxidant capacity of aqueous extracts of fresh samardala (Allium bulgaricum L.) leaves.
  20. Block, E. (2010). Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science. Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 978-0854041909.
  21. Kubec, R.; Cody, R. B.; Dane, A. J.; Musah, R. A.; Schraml, J.; Vattekkatte, A.; Block, E. (2010). "Applications of DART Mass Spectrometry in Allium Chemistry. (Z)-Butanethial S-Oxide and 1-Butenyl Thiosulfinates and their S-(E)-1-Butenylcysteine S-Oxide Precursor from Allium siculum". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 58 (2): 1121–1128. doi:10.1021/jf903733e. PMID 20047275.
  22. Salgado, BS; Monteiro, LN; Rocha, NS (2011). "Allium species poisoning in dogs and cats" (PDF). The Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins Including Tropical Diseases. 17 (1): 4–11. doi:10.1590/S1678-91992011000100002. ISSN 1678-9199.