The bulbs of this pungent ancestor of bulb onion, Allium cepa,, multiply in the ground. The swelling in the lower part of its leaves is identical to A. cepa. Endemic populations in Kopet in the Dagh Mountains of Turkmenistan have been almost entirely destroyed by overcollecting for food, and it is now very difficult to find in natural habitats.

Although the raw bulb tastes like turpentine, it makes delicious onion soup.