stag's garlic

9.9

A wild plant with broad leaves and white flowers whose leaves smell like garlic and are edible

noun

: ajo de oso

Many foragers collect stag's garlic for its edible leaves and mild garlicky flavor.

Examples

The woods were covered in stag's garlic, releasing a strong, onion-like scent after the rain.
In spring, you may spot the delicate white blossoms of stag's garlic carpeting the forest floor.
I found some stag's garlic in the forest.
The stag's garlic has a strong odor.
In spring, you may spot the delicate white blossoms of stag's garlic carpeting the forest floor.
Many foragers collect stag's garlic for its edible leaves and mild garlicky flavor.
The woods were covered in stag's garlic, releasing a strong, onion-like scent after the rain.

Synonyms

wild garlic

vsstag's garlic

1 3.0

A strong-smelling plant with broad leaves that grows in woods and people use in cooking

is the specific species name rather than a broad edible plant group

Allium ursinum

vsstag's garlic

Specialized

8.8

A wild plant with broad leaves that smell strongly of garlic

is the everyday descriptive name rather than the scientific term

ramsons

vsstag's garlic

9.9

A wild plant with broad green leaves and a strong garlic smell that grows in damp woods

is the general descriptive name used across regions rather than a local name

wood garlic

vsstag's garlic

7.2

A wild plant with broad leaves that smell like garlic and grows in damp woods

is the botanical species term not just a habitat-based label

Surface Forms

stag's garlic singular

stag's garlics plural

Morphology

stag's + garlic

The presence of 'garlic' makes it clear to a B1 learner that this is a kind of garlic, and 'stag's' (stag = male deer) signals an association or possessive relation suggesting a wild or nature-related variety. However, the specific reference to the species Allium ursinum and its particular pungent properties is lexicalized and not fully predictable from the parts alone, so the meaning is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Stag's garlic may come from a simple woodland picture: a stag, a male deer, eating the plant, which gives off a strong garlic smell. So the name explains the modern meaning as a wild plant with a garlic-like smell, often called 'wild garlic'.