leek

Documented leek identity

Record the supplied plant name, cultivar if known, and evidence connecting that label to this specimen.

1. Which seed, transplant or supplier record identifies this specimen as leek? provenance
2. Does the recorded name denote cultivated leek, or is a label such as 'wild leek' being used ambiguously? boundary

Leaf, shaft and base test

Assess leaf cross-section, overlapping sheaths and basal swelling together, allowing for missing parts and immature growth.

1. Are the blades flat and strap-like, and is the shaft visibly composed of overlapping leaf sheaths? measurement
2. What evidence distinguishes this specimen from an immature onion, garlic or another broad-leaved allium? boundary

Defined shaft measurements

Record shaft dimensions separately from pale colour extent and from the full plant length.

1. What are the shaft length and diameter, and where were their measurement boundaries placed? measurement
2. How much of the sheath-built shaft is pale, and what observable colour boundary defines that measurement? measurement

Portion-specific usability

Assess each retained portion against its condition and intended preparation rather than assuming only the pale shaft is usable.

1. Which roots, outer sheaths, shaft sections and green leaf portions remain after trimming? measurement
2. Which portions can be retained for the intended use, and what observed condition justifies removing others? action

Development and bolting evidence

Record developmental observations and relate them to the intended harvest or seed-production purpose.

1. Is there an emerging central flowering stalk, an inflorescence or seed development? measurement
2. Given its developmental stage and intended use, should this leek remain growing, be harvested or be retained for reproduction? action

Blanching and harvest choice

Connect current shaft development and documented growing practice to a specific next intervention.

1. What planting depth, earthing-up or collaring history is recorded for the pale shaft? provenance
2. Do the intended shaft size, current condition and growing context support further blanching, continued growth or lifting now? action

Localised damage and debris

Record the location and extent of soil, feeding damage, lesions and abnormal tissue without assigning an unsupported cause.

1. Where are soil, debris, feeding tracks, lesions or soft areas present, including between inspected sheaths? measurement
2. What further opening, cleaning or diagnostic inspection is needed before deciding whether affected portions are usable? action

Handling history and next use

Combine recorded handling with present firmness, wilting, discolouration and abnormal odour; appearance alone does not establish food safety.

1. When was the leek lifted, washed or cut, and what storage conditions are actually documented? provenance
2. Given its handling history and observed condition, what evidence supports further storage, prompt preparation or disposal? action

Kinds and varieties

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Summer / early (American Flag type) leeks - shorter, thicker shafts, less frost-hardy, marketed as a fresh summer vegetable
• Autumn intermediate leeks - main commercial European crop, harvested before hard winter
• Winter / late (Musselburgh, Bleu de Solaize, Carentan types) - long-standing, frost-hardy, overwintered in the field
• Baby / mini leeks - dense-sown, harvested at pencil to finger thickness for whole-plant use
• Kurrat (Egyptian leek, A. ampeloprasum var. kurrat) - leaf-cut rather than shaft-grown, eastern Mediterranean and Nile Valley
• Pearl-onion / multiplier forms of the same species complex (not true onions)
• Elephant garlic (A. ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) - a leek-group plant grown for large mild cloves, not a true garlic
• Ornamental / flowering Allium ampeloprasum (e.g. great-headed and wild Levant forms) grown for umbels rather than the shaft

1. Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of leek this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Identifiers and schemes

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Wikidata - Q43114 (leek as vegetable); Q165281 (Allium ampeloprasum); Q14624624 often used for Allium porrum as a name) - Taxonomic treatment is split: many checklists synonymize A. porrum under A. ampeloprasum Leek Group; older trade and seed lists still use Allium porrum L.
• NCBI Taxonomy - taxon ID 4681 (Allium ampeloprasum); 4682 is commonly cited for Allium porrum in older records - Confirm against the current NCBI dump before encoding; the two names are not always merged.
• EPPO Code - ALLPO (Allium porrum); ALLAM (Allium ampeloprasum) - Plant-health and pest-risk identifiers used in EPPO/EU phytosanitary lists.
• USDA PLANTS - AMAM2 (Allium ampeloprasum); ALLIU (genus) - United States plants database symbol; cultivated leek is not given a separate species symbol from wild A. ampeloprasum.
• GRIN taxon - taxon id 2241 (Allium ampeloprasum L.) - Includes cultivated leek, kurrat, pearl onion and great-headed garlic as cultivar groups or botanical varieties.
• HS / Harmonized System - 0703.90 (leeks and other alliaceous vegetables, fresh or chilled, other than onions, shallots and garlic) - Customs heading; 0712.90 covers dried; 2005.99 may catch prepared/preserved mixed vegetables containing leek.
• Codex / CCPR commodity - often coded with bulb vegetables / Allium leaf group (e.g. codes in the CXA 4 classification around VA 0384 family; leek is commonly VA 0384 Leek in CCPR) - VA 0384 is the conventional Codex Classification of Foods and Animal Feeds code for leek; use the current CXA 4 table rather than assuming stability of the number.

1. Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of leek this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Standards and regulation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• UNECE STANDARD FFV-21 (Leeks) - United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards: marketing and commercial quality, classes Extra, I and II, sizing and presentation.
• EU Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 (and successor marketing-standard framework) - European Commission: general and specific marketing standards for fresh fruit and vegetables; leeks historically had a specific EU standard aligned with UNECE FFV-21.
• Codex Classification of Foods and Animal Feeds (CXA 4) / CCPR residue classification - FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius: groups leek with Allium vegetables for pesticide MRL setting (commodity VA 0384 Leek).
• Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 - European Parliament and Council: maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food, including leek as an Allium vegetable.
• US FDA Food Safety Modernization Act produce safety rule (21 CFR Part 112) - U.S. Food and Drug Administration: growing, harvesting, packing and holding of covered produce, which includes leeks as a raw agricultural commodity.
• Aflatoxin/contaminant and nitrate monitoring under EU contaminants framework (Regulation (EU) 2023/915 successor to 1881/2006) - European Commission: leafy/stem vegetables including leek may be sampled for nitrates and other contaminants depending on national plans.
• National seed certification schemes (e.g. EU Common Catalogue of Varieties of Vegetable Species; AOSA/ISTA seed testing for Allium) - variety listing and germination/purity standards for leek seed.

1. Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of leek this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Real-world use

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Fresh culinary vegetable: white-to-pale shaft used as an aromatic base (mirepoix/soffritto variants, Welsh cawl, Scots cock-a-leekie, French poireaux vinaigrette and vichyssoise, Flemish prei dishes).
• Baby leeks grilled or braised whole in foodservice; mature leeks sliced and washed to remove trapped soil between sheaths.
• Processed as dried flakes, frozen slices, and soup/stock ingredients in industrial vegetable mixes.
• National and cultural emblem of Wales (worn on St David's Day); distinct from the daffodil as a plant emblem.
• Field vegetable crop in temperate horticulture, typically transplanted from modules or planted as pencil-thick 'leek plants', often earthed up or grown in trenches/collars to blanch the shaft.
• Elephant-garlic form sold in produce and seed markets as a mild garlic substitute; kurrat grown as a cut-and-come-again leaf allium in Egypt and the Levant.

1. Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of leek this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Typical measurements

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Marketable shaft (blanched stem) length - 10-40 (Extra/Class I often ≥10-15 minimum depending on edition of FFV-21) - cm
• Shaft diameter at mid-length - 10-40 (baby 8-15; standard 20-40; jumbo >40) - mm
• Trimmed plant mass (roots and excess green removed) - 80-400 (baby 20-80; large winter 300-600) - g
• Days from transplant to harvest (temperate field) - 80-150 early; 150-250 late/winter types - d
• Preferred growing temperature - 12-24 (growth slows near 0; frost hardy when established, damage below about −10 depending on cultivar) - °C
• Soil pH for commercial production - 6.0-7.5 - pH
• Plant density (field, standard leeks) - 15-30 plants/m² (higher for baby leek) - plants·m⁻²

1. Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of leek this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Failure modes and hazards

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• White rot (Stromatinia cepivora / Sclerotium cepivorum): persistent sclerotia in soil, crop loss and long rotations.
• Leek rust (Puccinia allii) and purple blotch / leaf blight: quality downgrade of the green fan and, when severe, of the shaft.
• Leek moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella) and allium leaf miner (Phytomyza gymnostoma): mining and rotting of the shaft, especially in Europe.
• Thrips (Thrips tabaci): silvering, yield loss, and a virus/vector concern in Allium systems.
• Bolting / premature flowering: woody flower stalk through the shaft, unmarketable under UNECE rules except as a stated defect allowance.
• Soil and grit trapped between sheaths: physical contaminant; principal kitchen and packing-house quality failure; also a sand/soil foreign-matter issue in processing.
• Nitrate accumulation in the shaft under high N and low light (winter glasshouse or northern field), relevant to leafy/stem vegetable contaminant monitoring.
• Toxicity to dogs, cats and some livestock (N-propyl disulfides / thiosulfates), same class of hazard as onion and garlic.
• FODMAP / fructan load: can trigger IBS symptoms; not an acute toxin for humans at culinary doses.
• Pesticide MRL exceedance and postharvest microbial contamination (as for other field vegetables eaten after cooking or, less often, raw).

1. Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of leek this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Regional variation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Wales and broader Britain: leek is a national emblem and a winter staple (cawl); 'leek' is not used for Allium tricoccum (that is North American wild leek / ramp).
• France/Belgium/Netherlands: poireau / prei as a year-round supermarket item with strong winter-cultivar culture; quality judged on long white shaft from earthing-up.
• United States: often a thinner commercial presence, more summer/American Flag types, and frequent culinary confusion with large scallions; 'wild leek' means A. tricoccum (ramps).
• East Asia: Japanese naganegi and Korean daepa are bunching onion (A. fistulosum), not leek; true leek is a later, smaller specialty import or greenhouse crop (Japanese リーキ / ポロネギ).
• Egypt and the Levant: kurrat grown and eaten as a leafy allium, not the blanched European shaft type.
• Catalonia: calçots are a blanched Allium cepa (onion) specialty, often mistaken by visitors for leeks.

1. Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of leek this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Bunching onion / Welsh onion / naganegi / daepa (Allium fistulosum) - Leaves are hollow and round in cross-section; no flattened leek-like fan and usually no thick multilayered pseudostem of the European leek type. Leek leaves are keeled/flat.
• Scallion / spring onion (immature Allium cepa or A. fistulosum) - Small or forming bulb at the base; leaves tubular if A. cepa/fistulosum. Leek has a continuous cylindrical sheath without a distinct bulb swelling when correctly grown.
• Onion (Allium cepa), including calçot - True tunicate bulb; leaves hollow. Calçot is a blanched green onion, not A. ampeloprasum. Leek lacks concentric bulb scales of the cepa type.
• Garlic (Allium sativum) - Compound bulb of cloves with papery tunic and a strong allicin-dominant odour. Culinary leek is a pseudostem, not a cluster of cloves.
• Elephant garlic (A. ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) - Same species complex but selected for a large, mild, garlic-like bulb of cloves; if the plant is grown for cloves rather than a long edible shaft, it is elephant garlic, not market leek.
• Garlic chives / Chinese leek (Allium tuberosum) - Flat, grass-like leaves and white flowers used as a herb; no thick blanched shaft. Flavour is garlic-chive, not the sweet onion-leek aroma of A. ampeloprasum Leek Group.
• Wild leek / ramp (Allium tricoccum) and three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrum) - Different species: ramps are broad-leaved North American forest ephemerals with a small bulb; A. triquetrum has a triangular stem and bell flowers. Neither is the cultivated European leek.

1. Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of leek this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance