Contents:
Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Legends, Myths and Stories | Uses | Formulas or Dosages | Nutrient Content | How Sold | Bibliography
Scientific Names
- Allium schoenoprasum L.
- Liliaceae
- Lily family
Common Names
- Cives
- Civet
- Rush Leeks
- Sweth
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
Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible
The Complete Medicinal Herbal
The Herbalist Almanac
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
Webster’s New World Dictionary
The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book)
