It is a perennial of the Amaryllis family that occurs widely in mountainous regions of Europe and parts of Asia (Caucasus and Himalayas).

[4][6] Some authors consider certain East Asian and Alaskan populations as constituting subspecies platyphyllum within the species Allium victorialis.

[7][8] Recent sources recognize this group as a distinct species, called Allium ochotense.

[4] The specific epithet victorialis comes from the German Siegwurz (Root of Victory),[15] and it earned this name having been "worn as an amulet, to be as safeguard against the attacks of certain impure spirits," by Bohemian miners among others.

[16] The plant known as pukusa to the Ainu people in northern Japan, an important food source, had been classed as A .victorialis subsp.