Ramp Project

There is a general lack of knowledge about the human element to managing forests for non-timber forest products. These products come from plants and fungi that are collected for a variety of uses including food, medicinal, floral, and ornamental. Very little is known about the social, economic factors that affect the collection, trade and use of these products. The markets for many of these products remain a mystery to forest managers and decision makers. Local folks have utilized a diversity of products from the forest, since the earliest settlers. Many species are closely enmeshed in the natural history of the region, yet the number, characteristics, and values of people involved in these markets is not well understood.

This study is focusing on the people who are involved in the collection, trade and consumption of ramps. We are particularly interested in their perceptions and values concerning managing forest resources for this product. At the same time, this study also is working to determine the quantities of ramps that are consumed each year.

Ramps, Allium tricoccum, also known as wild leeks, are native to the forests of eastern North American Mountains. They can be found growing in patches in rich, moist, deciduous forests and range from Canada, south and west to Minnesota and Missouri, and south to North Carolina and Tennessee. In southern United States ramps emerge in late March and early April in cool, shady areas with damp soil. The young plants send up smooth, broad, leaves that die back as the shrub and tree canopy close and reduce the sunlight that can reach the ramps. Before this occurs, people flock to the forests to collect these delicious but smelly spring edible. The bulbs are spicy, and have been compared to a cross between scallions and garlic.

Through this effort, we are trying to identify the people who are involved in the collection, distribution and marketing of these products We are conducting interviews and surveys of folks involved with the collection, trade and use of ramps to better understand their perceptions and attitudes toward managing forests for these edible products. Cultural views and attitudes shape the way people treat natural resources. We hope to learn from the folks who are directly involved with using these forest products how forests can be better managed to ensure that the collection of ramps continues to be an integral part of rural lives.

This project is also working to determine the quantity of ramps that are eaten and sold each year. This information is essential to understanding the demand for these products. Knowing the demand for ramps is critical to finding ways to sustainably manage the forests for these products. By knowing the amount of ramps that are consumed each year, forest managers can better determine if collection is exceeding the rate at which new plants are growing. For more on what we have found out so far, go to the project summary.

In this site you will find a number of interesting and useful resources. While you are visiting the site, take a photo tour of some of the ramp festivals. You will find links to literature, history, gourmet food sources and a bibliography. For visitors interested in cultivating ramps, you are encouraged to check out the horticulture leaflet produced by Jeanine Davis and Jackie Greenfield.

If you have comments, suggestions or materials to add to this site, please send them to Jim Chamberlain (jachambe@vt.edu)

Ramp Festivals

Ramp Websites

Literature
Discover Life

• Allium Tricoccum - General Information

Charleston Daily News, West Virginia

• It's Never Too Early For Ramps.

History
Folk Life

• Ramp Suppers, Biodiversity, and the Integrity of "The Mountains"

North Carolina

• The Appalachian Almanac -- Ramps

West Virginia

• In Search of the Wild Ramp
• Nicholas County Events

Tennessee

• Ramp Festival

Gourmet Food Sources and Recipes

• Wild Harvest
• Earthy.com
• A. S. Margraf's Fine Foods

Bibliography

• Andersson, Maud E. 1993. Aluminium toxicity as a factor limiting the distribution of Allium ursinum (L.) Annals of Botany 72: 607-611
• Asheville [NC] Citizen-Times. 1996. Over-harvesting cited for lower ramp supply. August 29.
• Brundrett, M.C.; Kendrick, B. 1988. The mycorrhizal status, root anatomy, and phenology of plants in a sugar maple forest. Canadian Journal of Botany 66:1153-1173
• Calvey, Elizabeth M.; Matusik, Jean, E.; White, Kevin D.; DeOrazio, Russell; Sha, Deyou; Block, Eric. 1997. Allium Chemistry: Supercritical Fluid extraction and LC-APCI-MS of thiosulfinates and related compounds from homogenates of garlic, onion and ramp. Identification in garlic and ramp and synthesis of 1 propanesulfinothioic Acid S-Allyl Ester. J. Agric Food Chemistry 45(11): 4406-4413.
• Carotenuto,Alfonso De;Feo,Vincenzo; Fattorusso,Ernesto. 1996. The flavonoids of Allium ursinum . Phytochemistry. 41(2): 531-536.
• Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G.; Warburg, E.F. 1962. Flora of the Birtish Isles, 2nd ed. Cambridge: at the University Press.
• Core, Earl L. 1945. Ramps. Castanea 10: 110-113.
• DeMars, Brent G. 1996. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal status of spring ephemerals in two Ohio forests. Ohio Journal of Science 96(4/5): 97-99.
• Elliott, Douglas B. 1976. Roots, An Underground Botany and Forager's Guide. The Chatham Press, Old Greenwich, Connecticut. 128 pp.
• Ernst, W.H.O. 1979. Population Biology of Allium ursinum in northern Germany. J. Ecol. 67: 347-362.
• Facemire, G. 1996. Growing Your Own Ramps. Richwood, West Virginia, 26261. 13 p.
• Facemire, G. 1997. Ramps: From the Seed to the Weed. Richwood, West Virginia, 26261. 16 p.
• Felsko, Elsa. 1959. Book of Wild Flowers. New York: Thomas Yoseloff. 207 pp.
• Fitter, R.S.R. 1971. Finding Wild Flowers. London: Collins 415 pp.
• Gagnon, D. 1980. Évaluation de l'impact de la cueillette sur l'ail des bois ( Allium tricoccum ) au Parc de la Gatineau. 22 pp.
• Greenfield, J. and J.M. Davis. 2001. "Cultivation of Ramps (Allium tricoccum and A. burdickii)." NC State University, Horticulture Information Leaflets. New 6/01 HIL-133. 5 p. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/ September 2001
• Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. 1975. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses-A 400 year History. Herald Publishing, Sylva , North Carolina. 72 pp.
• Hanes, C.R. 1953. Allium Tricoccum Ait., var Burdickii , var nov. Rhodora 55:243.
• Hanes, C.R. and Ownbey, M. 1946. Some observations on two ecological races of Allium tricoccum in Kalazoo County, Michigan. Rhodora 48:61-63
• Jandl, Robert; Kopeszki, Hubert; Glatzel, Gerhard. 1997. Effect of a dense Allium ursinum (L.) ground cover on nutrient dynamics and mesofauna of a Fagus sylvatica (L.) woodland. Plant and Soil 189(2):245-255.
• Jones, A.G. 1979. A study of wild leek, and the recognition of Allium burdickii (Liliacea). Systematic Botany 4:29-43
• Jones, Almut G. and Shildneck, Paul. 1980. A note on the distribution of wild leek in Illinois. Acad. Sci,. 72(3): 56-59.
• Koch, H.P.; Lawson, L. D.; and Reuter, H.D. 1996. Garlic: The Science and Therapeutic Application of Allium Sativum L. and Related Species. Heinrich P. Knoblauch ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. 329 pp.
• Madison County Sentinel 1(4): 1-17. April 7, 1999. Retired warden wants to save wild 'ramps,' by Fred Hughs.
• Moerman, Daniel E. 1998. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 927 pp.
• Mohamed-Yasseen, Yasseen; Barringer, Sheryl A.; Splittstoesser, Walter E. 1994. In vitro bulb production from Allium spp. In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol., 31:51-52, January 1995.
• Nantel, Patrick; Gagnon,Daniel, Nault, Andree. 1996. Population viability analysis of American ginseng and wild leek harvested in stochastic environments. Conservation Biology 10:608-621.
• Nault, Andree. 1991. Comparative demography of Allium victorialis ssp. platyphyllum populations growing at different altitudes. Ph D Thesis, Kyoto University
• Nault, A., and Gagnon, D. 1987. Some aspects of the pollination ecology of wild leek, Allium tricoccum Ait. Plant Species Biology 2: 127-132.
• Nault,A., and D. Gagnon. 1988. Seasonal biomass and nutrient allocation patterns in wild leek ( Allium tricoccum Ait.), a spring geophyte. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 115: 45-54.
• Nault, Andree; Gagnon, Daniel. 1993. Ramet demography of Allium tricoccum , a spring ephemeral, perennial forest herb. Journal of Ecology 81:101-119.
• Nishimura, Hiroyuki; Wijaya, C. Hanny; Mizutani, Junya. 1988. Volatile flavor components and antithrombotic agents: vinyldithiins from Allium victorialis L. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 36:563-566.
• Rock, Janet. 1996. The impact of harvesting ramps ( Allium tricoccum Ait.) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Report, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 107 Park Headquarters Rd., Gatlinburg, TN 37738.
• Swink, Floyd; Wilhelm, Gerould. 1994. Plants of the Chicago region: an annotated checklist of the vascular flora of the Chicago region, with keys, notes on 4th edition. Indianapolis: Indiana Academy of Science. 921 pp.
• Vasseur, L., Gagnon, D., and Simon, J.P. 1990. Isoenzymatic variability among populations and varieties of wild leek ( Allium tricoccum Ait). Biochem. Syst. & Ecol. 18: 321-324.
• Vasseur, Liette and Gagnon, Daniel. 1994. Survival and growth of Allium tricoccum Ait. transplants in different habitats. Biological Conservation 68(2): 107-114.
• Vasseur, L., Biology Dept., Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Canada B3H 3C3. The effect of population isolation on allozymic diversity of Allium tricoccum var. burdickii . XVI International Botanical Congress, Abstract Number: 2115, Poster No. = 679.
• Whanger, P. D.; Ip, C.; Polan, C. E.; Uden, P. C.; Welbaum, G. 2000. Tumorigenesis, metabolism, speciation, bioavailability, and tissue deposition of selenium in selenium-enriched ramps (Allium tricoccum). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 48(11): 5723-5730.