Do you know the toxic doppelgängers of wild garlic?

The wild garlic season has begun and cooking magazines are filled with delicious recipes for you to try. Pick your own leaves on a woodland walk and turn them into a delicious pesto, soup  or salad. But be careful: Not everything that looks like wild garlic is actually wild garlic! Confusing this plant with the autumn crocus can be fatal. When foraging, you need to be certain you can identify wild garlic. In addition to the (highly toxic) autumn crocus, other less toxic lookalikes such as lily of the valley and arum could be growing right next to wild garlic.

Wild garlic leaves:
Leaves grow individually through the soil with a clearly recognisable thin stem that is a distinct from the main leaf (stalked), elliptical-shaped leaves with a matt underside, characteristic garlic odour.
Autumn crocus leaves:
Leaves are attached to the stem without a stalk (sessile), lanceolate leaf shape, no garlic odour.
Lily of the valley leaves:
Two to three leaves are attached to and surround the same stem, glossy underside, no garlic odour

Tips for picking:  

1. Identify the leaves outside in situ!
   (Once the leaves are picked, they look more alike.)
2. Check each individual leaf.
3. Avoid picking around the edge of the woodland.
   (This is more likely to be where autumn crocuses and wild garlic are growing together.)
4. Ideally, forage in the middle of the woods.

Over the past ten to fifteen years, Tox Info Suisse has seen enquiries double with regard to wild garlic and possible confusion with the lookalikes of autumn crocus and lily of the valley. Many enquiries relate to gastrointestinal symptoms after allegedly eating wild garlic. 

This plant and its essential oils may be the actual culprit in these cases. Individual intolerances to the essential oils contained in wild garlic and the consumption of large quantities may also play a role. However, gastrointestinal complaints are also symptoms of poisoning by autumn crocus or lily of the valley.

Unlike when consuming wild garlic, acute gastrointestinal symptoms caused by the autumn crocus will not improve. The cell toxin colchicine can lead to organ failure and cardiogenic shock within a few days. According to case notes recorded by Tox Info Suisse, there have been four fatal instances of poisoning by autumn crocus in Switzerland since the millennium.

When callers report intense gastrointestinal symptoms and cannot clearly identify the picked leaves, Tox Info Suisse often has to advise seeking urgent medical attention. The toxin in the autumn crocus can be detected in blood or urine. However, these tests are time-consuming and those affected need to be monitored in hospital at least until the test results are available. There is no antidote. Treatment for autumn crocus poisoning is given according to the symptoms. Repeated ingestion of activated charcoal attempts to bind the toxin of the autumn crocus and eliminate it from the body. 

Lily of the valley was selected as the toxic plant of the year in 2014, but Tox Info Suisse has not recorded any serious cases in its more recent case notes. The critical signs of poisoning (after consuming several leaves) are nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea as well as a slow or irregular pulse.

What should you do in the event of symptoms or uncertainty?

If you experience nausea, vomiting and severe diarrhoea a few hours after consuming a meal with wild garlic, we advise calling Tox Info Suisse immediately.

There is no time to lose in the event of possible colchicine poisoning.

However, it is much better if you can reliably identify wild garlic or buy it from grocery store.

Arum (Arum maculatum)

Latest literature 

April 2022, updated in February 2024