A leek is a biennial vegetable, a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek (syn. Allium porrum). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes colloquially called a "stem" or "stalk". The genus Allium also contains the onion, garlic, shallot, scallion, chives, and Chinese onion. Three closely related vegetables—elephant garlic, kurrat and Persian leek or tareh—are also cultivars of A. ampeloprasum, although different in their culinary uses.

Closest relatives