Chives

Scientific Names

• Allium schoenoprasum L.
• Liliaceae
• Lily family

Common Names

• Cives
• Civet
• Rush Leeks
• Sweth

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Parts Usually Used

The aerial parts, above the ground

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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Chives are hardy perennials; grow in clumps of small white bulbous roots that send off numerous fine, grass-like, hollow green spears. The root bulbs develop in clusters; they send up a thin stalk on which appear in early summer a lavender blossom that is actually a cluster of tiny blooms. Seeds follow the flowers. Some gardeners say chives repel Japanese beetles and black spot on roses, scab on apples, and mildew on cucubits; this has not been proven.
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Where Found

Found all over Europe, East Asia, the Orient, and from the Caucasus right up to Siberia.
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Medicinal Properties

Stimulant, diuretic, tonic
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Biochemical Information

Mustard oil
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Legends, Myths and Stories

Chives are an ancient herb brought to the West from China by Marco Polo. One of the French fines herbes, chives possess a delicate onion flavor and are an important addition to a kitchen garden. In centuries past people hung chives in their homes, from ceilings and bedposts, to ward off evil and disease.

First discovered in China 5000 years ago, chives later became popular in Europe not only for their subtle onion flavor but because of the widespread belief that their grasslike leaves chase away evil spirits and disease.

Chives contain a large amount of mustard oil which gives them their sharp taste.

Garlic chives are chives with a mild garlic flavor. They are called Chinese chives (A. tuberosum) or they can use the same name as ordinary chives. Also known as Oriental garlic, Chinese leeks, and gow choy. They are taller than regular chives, with numerous star shaped white flowers that appear in late summer and early fall. Garlic chives are used in Oriental dishes to give them their characteristic flavor.
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Uses

Chives stimulate the appetite and aid in digestion. Useful in anemia and as a blood cleanser. Clears phlegm in catarrh.
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Formulas or Dosages

Chives must be eaten fresh to receive maximum benefit.
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Nutrient Content

High in vitamin C and iron
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How Sold

At the supermarket, dried in the spice section
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Bibliography

Country Home Book of Herbs, Meredith Books, Editorial Dept. RW240, 1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50309-3023, copyright 1994

Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible, by Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., Simon & Schuster/Fireside, Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

The Complete Medicinal Herbal, by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993

The Herbalist Almanac, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994

Herbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition

The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991

Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book), edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

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