Leek

a plant related to the onion and garlic. Leeks have an offensive, distasteful odor, and a taste of their own, but suggestive of garlic. The wild leek has a naked flower stalk, four to twelve inches high, with a flat-topped cluster of greenish flowers. The leaves, five to nine inches long and one to two inches wide, come early in the spring when feed is scarce. Cows feeding on them give "leeky" milk unfit for use. The leek contains tiny globules of an essential oil. It is this oil that ruins butter and milk. The leek is to be found in rich woodlands. Leeks are an article of food in southern Europe. See Onion