A ramp by any other name would stink as sweet. The pungent aroma of this member of the lily family turns up the nose of those who don’t appreciate its culinary charms.

This delicate bulb with its graceful two lily leaves goes by many names: allium tricoccum, wild leek, wild garlic, ramp, wood leek and ail des bois. The French Canadian ail sauvage rings most true with its hint of garlic and wildness.

In Quebec the wild leek has protected species status and can only be harvested for personal use. But in some southeastern states it’s considered a noxious weed. Rare here: obnoxiously abundant there. The plant is an enigma.

Since 1995, the Quebec government has enforced regulations to protect nine at-risk plant species. The first regulation designates the wild leek as a vulnerable species and prohibits trade and regulates the harvesting of the plant. Foraging is allowed in small amounts for personal use only. There’s drama in the image of Quebecois wild leek poachers sneaking across the border to Ontario in dead of night to lightly tap on a chef’s back door, offering up their ill gotten prize; their ail sauvage.

In early spring, as soon as the snow melts, the tender green shoots of the wild leek are among the first things to grow in the forest. They grow in bunches in the partial shade at the edge of the forest and in clearings. Their broad pale-green leaves swoop up in an elegant arc out of the detritus of last year’s leaves. They look very like lily of the valley with the same purplish bruising on the lower stems. The plant’s roots stretch tendrils from the white bulb just under the soil’s dark top layer.

In West Virginia ramps are commonplace on springtime menus and in the Great Smoky Mountains they hold a yearly festival celebrating the bulb and its garlicky onion flavour. Researchers in Ohio and Kentucky advise families to collect the plants in early spring before other fresh greens are available to make use of their ample supplies of vitamin C.

It may be the high ascorbic acid quality to the plant that has given its juices their reputation as a natural remedy for bee stings.

The long leaves of allium tricoccum only show off their charms for a short season before withering away. The plant’s energy is diverted to the 6 to 10 inch stalk that will then bloom in a cluster of tiny cream coloured flowers.