Wild garlic. Wood with wild garlic (Allium ursinum) and bluebell (Endymion nonscriptus, upper left) flowers. Wild garlic is used in herbal medicine for its antioxidant and antibacterial properties. It is a member of the lily family and is also known as ramsons or bear paw garlic. It gets its name from the claim that bears eat it to regain their strength after hibernation. The word ursinum is Latin for 'bear'.