Too distant to be sure. But the smell should tell you. Did you rub some leaves?

I smelled a crushed leaf of the second pic, and no particular smell. Did the same for the "known" ramps, but nether did they (yet). Perhaps they have to grow out more before developing the smell. I'm not going to dig any up yet.

Looking again I’m wondering if either picture shows Ramps. The growth habit looks wrong. Have you ever actually harvested the ’known’ Ramps? Are you certain of the id?

Neither of those pictures is of ramps. They look like daylilies. Ramps have mostly two, upright oval leaves with an often red tinted neck the leaves emerge from like other alliums.

Thanks Christopher. I’ve never seen Ramps in the flesh so I didn’t want to be too definite. And I also thought of day lilies.

Hmm, OK. Neighbor said there were some planted in that area that had spread out (like the top pic), but apparently I got the wrong spot.

Probably Hemerocallis fulva. It grows where people settled and it remains after the buildings have returned to dust. The Old Fashioned Orange Daylily has naturalized to the point, that most, 'plant blind' people, consider it native. Ramps Always have a sweet mild onion taste, even as seedlings. The leaves in the 1st picture are too rigid and narrow. Ramp leaves are wider, thinner, softer, more flaccid, with conspicuous vertical veins. Ramp leaves emerge from 1 sheath and they don't grow in a fan shape with each new leaf growing from the sheath of the previous leaf. There are 2 species of ramps in eastern NA, that I know of, Allium tricoccum and Allium burdickii. Their leaves wither and go dormant by summer and then, they put up a bloom stalk later. Lazy, selfish people are poaching ramps and harvesting ramp leaves unsustainably. Ramps are a gormet ingredient used by upscale resturaunts. You can use chives or scallion leaves as a close tasting substitute. The daylilies may have traveled by river. I think the sustainable way to harvest ramps is to grow a small colony and only remove 1 leaf per plant. Old Fashioned Orange Daylily also has culinary uses. The flower buds of Hemercallis fulva are delicious to eat steamed, sauteed, in soups, or stir fried. Supposedly deer relish the tender young shoots? I wonder how true that is. They've never nibbled on the Stella de Oro at the old residence, but they comepletely defoliated a potted tropical Hibicus. They are more than welcome to graze on the Stellas, rhyzomes and all. For a posative ID simply dig some up. Hemerocallis will have large, spreading rhyzomes with yellow sap, Ramps will have bulbs.

Allium tricoccum.

So I absolutely love these leaves. It must be part of the reason I love Clintonia. Their beauty is fleeting unfortunately. :( Ramps like to grow in wet seeps in the forest. The seeds take 2 years to germinate, and then they take a few more years to reach harvestable size. They are dissapearing thoughout their range due to poaching. Some cretans pull up the entire plant just to havest the leaves, or they harvest all the leaves, weakening the plant by stealing it's only means of photosynthesis. This human greed that causes plant and animal extinctions needs to stop. 🙏🏼

Allium burdickii. This Narrow leaved ramp is very rare compared to A. tricoccum. Status highly threatened. In the past Allium burdickii was considered a variety of Allium tricoccum, but is now recognised as a distinct species, Allium burdickii Mohlenbrock.

Flower of Allium tricoccum, after it's leaves have dissapeared.

Thanks Jay, for the info. I had been aware of the plants in the top pic (thinking they were lillys & guess I was right), but I'm pretty sure I've never seen a single flower in the patch... The ones in second pic underneath my planted baldcypress, I have no idea how they got there, and that area is subject to considerable flooding.

The pics you show should make it easy to spot ramps. I very much like/use (red) onions and garlic (crushed cloves, not the prepared stuff) in my cooking. Raw spring onions let set in cold salt water are very good.

From what my neighbor told me, he planted a number of ramp patches decades ago, and 2 patches have survived and spread. He keeps it secret, and only a few relatives of his know their location.

Just downstream of the 1st pic, there is a large, solid patch of rushes, not sure what species (kinda Zebra-like w/alternating light and dark green on the hollow stems). Had never seen such before. Deer often go thru them in late summer browsing them down some, but it doesn't seem to hurt them.

Does your neighbor harvest and eat the 'ramps' he planted Ben? Did you taste his ramps? Yeah I only use fresh garlic too. I'm not so lazy as to buy dehusked preserved garlic cloves. Really? haha

Jay, as a Chicagoan you should've also mentioned that, "The name Chicago is [most likely] derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa for a wild relative of the onion; it is known to botanists as Allium tricoccum and known more commonly as "ramps". (Wikipedia)

I came across this patch of ramps last spring (4/27/22) on a vacant parcel of land where new homes are being built. Doubtful that it will survive the dozers whenever that particular parcel is sold and graded.

Dave, I would ask permission to rescue them. If you do plan to rescue them, get them before the leaves dissapear. That's a nice sized colony. Maybe there are some other cool plants you might have missed?

Here are a few pics of the largest colony of ramps I've ever seen.

Those look like fulva lilies to me too. On the bright side, fulvas are edible. Always positive ID first.

I wish I could get ramps around here. I'm not even sure who a reputable dealer is to get plants. I got a couple spots out back to establish them if I could.

"I would ask permission to rescue them" Maybe I'll give it a try. I believe the lot is currently owned by a builder; not sure if they would be open to the idea. There was blue cohosh and a few trilliums on the same lot.

I saw these ramps for sale at the farmer's market in early May last year

I don't think the builder/owner would have a problem with someone rescuing the plants, if he's just planning on bulldozing them anyway. I would definately grab as much good stuff as I could. The plot sounds like a remnant, there's probably smaller associates like spring beauty, rue anemone, false mermaid, sedges, etc. I hope those market ramps were farmed and not poached. If there are more plants than you can take, you contact your local wild ones or native plant society and they can rescue the rest of them.

Thanks, interesting replies.

Jay, yeah, he says he digs up a few, rinses & cuts up both leaves and bulbs together, and stir-fry in alittle oil w/cut-up red potatoes. If I were to do it, I might add some cut-up pre-boiled chicken into the fray.

Here's a link about daylilly edibility.

https://honest-food.net/dining-on-daylilies/

Very nearby was an impressive 120 ft white pine. Tulip trees nearby were even taller.