Chives are herbaceous plant which grows in clumps rather than as individual plant.
It is bulb forming perennial plant which used as culinary purpose as
well as medicinal purpose.
It is a native to central Asia but today found everywhere in Europe.
They have been cultivated since thousands of years and it is reported
that Chinese were the first to cultivate chives.
Since then it is been used for medicinal uses and added to vegetables
while cooking.
Chives grow to a height of 30-50 cm, and the bulbs are slender conical,
2-3 cm long and 1cm broad and grow in deep clusters from the roots.
The leaves are hollow tabular upto 50cm long and 2-3 mm in diameter. The
flowers of chives plant are purple in colour, star-shaped with six petals
1-2 cm wide.
Chives are now cultivated everywhere in Europe, Asia and North America.
Chives require proper sunlight and well drained soil. It usually grows in
all types of soil but it should be well fertilized and manured.
The seeds should be sown deep about ½ inches and constant moisture
of the soil should be maintained.
Chive leaves are used
Chive contains pungent volatile oils and is rich in sulphur.