Their primary drawback, other than being fussy about growing conditions, is that they are among the shortest storing garlics of all. Not all plants that some people think of as garlic is actually garlic of the species Allium Sativum. Elephant garlic is Allium ampeloprasum. Ramsons garlic is a broad-leaved wild garlic and is of the species allium ursinum. Crow garlic is a narrow-leafed smallish wild garlic of the species allium vineale.
Garlic chives is of the species allium tuberosum.
All garlic species are botanically classified as Allium Sativum and elephant garlic is Allium Ampeloprasum, formerly Allium Gigantum. Large elephant garlic is about twice the size of the largest real garlics or larger and has a milder taste but with a sharp onion-like edge to it and a distinctive aftertaste. It also has far less allicin potential than real garlic but grows extremely clean and disease free and does not seem to be bothered by insects. Elephant garlic stores very hard and clean much longer than real garlic, even when separated into individual cloves. Unlike real garlic it produces bottom bulbils called corms that have very hard shells with sharp pointed tops and they store even longer than the bulbs.