How do you recognise Sicilian honey garlic (Nectaroscordum siculum)?

Leaf

David J. Stang, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sicilian honey garlic

Nectaroscordum siculum (Ucria) Lindl.

Also known as: Honey garlic, Mediterranean bells

Family: Amaryllidaceae

80 to 120 cm tall

Wild in open woodland and cool meadows in the Mediterranean zone; grown in borders and edgings in gardens

Flowering: May – June

Full sun

Part shade

Hardy to about -15°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

The whole plant gives off a strong garlic smell when crushed, although it belongs to a genus distinct from the true garlics (Allium).

🍃 Leaves

Long, strap-shaped, channelled, giving off a garlic smell when crushed, often withered by flowering time

🌸 Flowers

Pendent cream bells tinged with pink and green, grouped in a loose umbel at the top of a tall flower stalk, becoming upright after flowering

🍎 Fruits

Upright three-chambered capsule, decorative, kept for dried bouquets

🪵 Bark

Not applicable — bulbous herbaceous plant

🗺️ Distribution

Mediterranean basin (Sicily, southern France, Turkey); grown as an ornamental in temperate Europe

🐝 Value for pollinators

Nectar-rich flowers much visited by bees and bumblebees

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted in perennial borders for its unusual flower stalks and decorative capsules at the end of the season

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No known toxicity to humans (like other Allium, gives off a garlic smell when crushed); potentially toxic to dogs and cats if ingested, like other Allium (sulphur compounds causing haemolytic anaemia).

🌿 Other Amaryllidaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.