Garlic chives, Chinese chives
Allium tuberosum

Family: Amaryllidaceae

What it is like

An onion family plant. It is a herb which keeps growing year after year. It can be 40 cm high. It grows in clumps. These onions have rhizomes but no real bulbs. The leaves are long and grass like, and flat and solid. They are 15-30 cm long and about 5 mm wide. The young leaves are erect but the mature leaves bend gracefully down. The blades of the leaves are not folded length-wise, as are those of garlic and leek. Flowers are white. The flowers are produced at the top of a flower stalk which grows from the underground stem. The flower head is round due to the small flowers being on the same length stalks and arising from the same point. The flower stalk can be 45 cm long. A dense clump of plants is produced.

There are about 300-700 Allium species. Most species of Allium are edible (Flora of China). All alliums are edible but they may not all be worth eating! They have also been put in the family Alliaceae.

Where it is found

A temperate plant. They are native to eastern Asia. Seeds are rarely formed in the lowland tropics. It is naturalised in S China. In Indonesia it grows up to 2,200 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 7-10. In Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Cook Islands, Cuba, East Timor, Fiji, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, SE Asia, Singapore, Slovenia, Taiwan, Tasmania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, USA, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Indies

How it is used for food

The leaves and young flowers are used to flavour foods. The bulbs are used like garlic.

It is cultivated as a vegetable. It is a commercially cultivated vegetable.

Edible parts

Flowers, leaves, root, bulb, herb, vegetable, spice

How it is grown

Plants can be grown by dividing the clump of plants or by seed. Seed production is not easy. Plants are sown in rows 30 cm apart.

Chives may be cultivated for its flowers which are plucked together with the stalks before the buds emerging from the sheath. They can also be grown for its edible leaves which have a special flavour considered fragrant by some people.

Its other names

Local names

Amput di imayyaw, Bawang Kuchai, Buchu, Bunga-ghundeena, Cuchay chives, Flowering chives, Ganda, Gau choy, Guichai, Gyu-myit, He, Hom-paen, Indian leek, Jirlang, Jiu Cai, Kachaay, Kau, Kau ts'oi, Koo chye, Kuchai, Kui chaai, Kutsay, La he, Nira, Oriental garlic, Tareh, Tsoi, Yellow chives

Synonyms

Allium argyi H.Leveille; Allium chinense Maxim (1859) not G.Don (1827); Allium clarkei J.D.Hooker; Allium roxburghii Kunth.; Allium senescens Miq.; Allium sulvia Buch.-Ham.ex D.Don; Allium tuberosum Roxb.(1832) Allium uliginosum G. Don not Ledebour; Allium yesoense Nakai; Allium odoratum auct. non L.; Allium bakeri auct. non Regel.;