It is a perennial plant which rises to a height of 1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m)
tall at maturity. The foliage comprises a central stem 25 - 100 cm tall,
with flat or keeled leaves 30 - 60 cm long and 2 - 3 cm broad.
The leaves are long, narrow and flat like grass, with a crease down the
middle and are held erect in two opposite ranks.
The flowers are placed at the end of a stalk rising direct from the bulb
and are whitish, grouped together in a globular head and are surrounded by
a papery basal spathe; each flower is white, pink or purple, with six
tepals 3 - 5 millimetres long. The flowers are commonly abortive and
rarely produce any seeds.
A garlic head is generally four to eight centimeters in diameter, white to
pinkish or purple, and is composed of numerous (8 - 25) discrete bulbs.
The bulb is of a compound nature, consisting of numerous bulblets, known
technically as 'cloves,' grouped together between the membranous scales
and enclosed within a whitish skin, which holds them as in a sac.