Garlic chives are native to the Chinese province of Shanxi. They are cultivated and naturalized elsewhere in Asia and around the world.
Garlic chives are rhizomatous, clump-forming perennial plants growing from small, elongated bulbs (about 10 mm across) that are tough and fibrous. Unlike either onion or garlic, they have strap-shaped leaves with triangular bases, up to 8 mm wide.
Garlic chives produce many white flowers in round clusters (umbels) on leafless stalks up to 60 cm tall. They bloom from late summer to autumn. The flavor of the vegetative parts of the plant is more like garlic than chives, however the flower scent is more suggestive of violets. Garlic chives are known for attracting bees, beneficial insects and other pollinators. Their flowers are nectar and pollen rich.
In cold areas, leaves and stalks completely die back to the ground, and resprout from roots or rhizomes in the spring. In warmer areas, garlic chives may remain green all year round.
Garlic chives are often grown as an ornamental plant in gardens. They have been widely cultivated for centuries in East Asia for their culinary value. The flat leaves, the stalks, and immature, unopened flower buds are used as flavoring.