Allium hookeri ‘Zorami’

Hooker’s Onion Amaryllidaceae

A particularly useful edible perennial Allium, ‘Zorami’ combines the culinary virtues of a spring onion with the reliability of a hardy garden perennial. It forms neat clumps of broad, fleshy green leaves, followed by rounded umbels of white flowers in summer. The whole plant is useful in the kitchen: the leaves and fleshy roots can be eaten fresh or cooked, with a mild onion-garlic flavour. In North-East India, A. hookeri is traditionally used as a vegetable, condiment and spice, with leaves and roots chopped into curries, chutneys and other dishes. The Monpa people of Arunachal Pradesh, for example, eat it as a green salad, while other documented traditions use the plant in soups, pickles and chutneys. 

The species has a fascinating ethnobotanical history across India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and south-western China, where it has been cultivated and gathered as a food plant for generations. Ethnobotanical studies from Manipur record leaves and roots being used daily as a spice or condiment, including chopped leaves fried in oil to flavour curries. Traditional medicinal uses are also recorded, although these should be regarded as ethnobotanical rather than proven medical treatments. 

‘Zorami’ is a particularly good garden form, named by Paul Barney for his daughter, and was introduced to wider horticulture through Edulis. It is an excellent perennial vegetable for moist, well-drained soil in sun or light shade, and its repeated flowering from summer into autumn makes it unusually attractive to pollinating insects. 

Edible: Leaves, fleshy roots, bulbs and flowers; used fresh or cooked.
Ethnobotany: Traditional vegetable, spice and condiment throughout parts of South and South-East Asia; also recorded in traditional medicine.
Distribution: India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and south-western China.
Flowering: June–October
Hardiness: H5, approximately −15 to −10°C
Height: 30–40 cm
Spread: 30–45 cm