The Yorktown onion is not native to this country, but came from the Old World. The scientific name of both our plants and those of the Old World is Allium Ampeloprasum. Allium is Latin for garlic, while Alpeloprasum means "leek of the vineyard".
Though the plant is always referred to as the Yorktown Onion here, there are several other common names. In print it has been called wild onion, giant wild garlic, and wild leek.
Our plant probably made its way to the New World, like many other plants, by accident. Legend has it that the seeds came here during the Revolutionary War mixed with crop seeds or fodder. Regardless of how it got here, it became firmly established as a wild plant in what is now York County.
The Yorktown Onion is protected by law, as Chapter 17, Article III, Section 17-35, Subsection B, of the Code of the County of York, Virginia, states that "...gathering or collecting the Yorktown Onion shall be prohibited".