Chives
Allium schoenoprasum
Dense tufts of hollow, cylindrical grey-green leaves rise 20–40 cm from a cluster of narrow bulbs, topped through summer by tight pink-mauve globes of bell-shaped flowers. It is a genuine British native as well as a kitchen staple, though truly wild colonies are few and very local. Leaves and flowers both carry a mild, clean onion flavour, best used raw or stirred in at the end of cooking, since heat drives it off.
A scarce native of dry limestone rock and thin grassland, with a handful of long-known sites in Cornwall, Wales and Cumbria. Far more often met with as a garden plant and escape, naturalised on waste ground, verges, allotments and old walls across Britain and Ireland.
Generally safe raw or cooked, though large quantities of any allium can upset a sensitive stomach. Crush a leaf before picking: no onion smell means it is not a chive and the tuft should be left. Native colonies are scarce and localised, so take from cultivated and naturalised stands rather than from rock-ledge populations. All alliums are toxic to dogs, cats and horses.
Always use more than one reference to confirm a plant. You are responsible for what you choose to forage.
Growth habit
Forms dense, upright tufts 20–40 cm tall from a tight cluster of small, narrow bulbs sitting at or just below the surface. There is no single fat bulb to lift, and no creeping runners between clumps.
Leaves
Hollow and circular in cross-section, tapering evenly to a fine point, so a leaf collapses when pressed flat between finger and thumb. This rules out the flat or keeled leaves of the other British wild alliums, which are solid throughout.
Flowerhead
A tight, rounded umbel 2–4 cm across of pink to pale mauve bell-shaped flowers on a hollow, leafless stem. No bulbils are carried in the head, which separates it from the bulbil-bearing wild onions of dry grassland.
Smell
A crushed leaf gives a clean, mild onion scent with none of the garlic note of wild garlic. If there is no onion smell at all, the plant is not a chive whatever the leaves look like, and should be left alone.
Updated 2026-08-08T06:53:04.911Z · Part of the shared Foragers Log catalogue · Herb