Garlic's mysterious origins
totototo@telus.net (Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:13:58 PDT)
Garlic is only one of a number of plants cultivated since the dawn of time with
no known wild equivalent. The saffron crocus is another such, as is (oddly
enough) the "Dutch Yellow" crocus, which Brian Mathew demonstrated to be a
sterile hybrid of C. ancyrensis and C. flavus, iirc.
The Hittites three or more millenia ago had a festival featuring a plant whose
name is transcribed krk, presumably some form of crocus.
A closely related category of cultivated plants comprises those grown so widely
for so long that no one is certain where they originated.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate
on beautiful Vancouver Island