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Thunberg’s Chive

Allium thunbergii

Also called Japanese Onion

Thunberg’s Chive
Photo: James Steakley, CC BY-SA 3.0

Thunberg's chive is a small bulbous wild onion from East Asia, grown in gardens for its edible leaves and showy red or purple flower heads. It is cold hardy and is best planted in full sun with well-drained soil.

Family
Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil & onion family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water during dry spells in growth and let the soil dry out between waterings; bulbs rot in soggy ground.
Soil
Free-draining, fertile garden soil or gritty potting mix.
Temperature
Hardy to around -20 °C; dormant in cold winters and grows through spring and early summer.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
EC. China to Temp. E. Asia
Climate
temperate

About

Allium thunbergii, Thunberg's chive Thunberg garlic or sanbuchu, is an East Asian species of wild onion native to Japan (incl Bonin + Ryukyu Islands), Korea, and China (incl. Taiwan). It grows at elevations up to 3000 m. The Flora of China recognizes A. tunbergii and A. stenodon as separate species, but more recent sources combine the two.

Allium thunbergii produces one or two egg-shaped bulbs up to 20 mm in diameter. Scapes are up to 50 cm tall. Leaves are longer than the scape, hollow, triangular in cross-section. Umbels are crowded with many red or purple flowers.

Other Allium plants

South Idaho onion · Abrams' allium · Allium aciphyllum · Tapertip onion · Allium aeginiense · Allium aflatunense · Allium agrigentinum · Allium alabasicum · Allium albotunicatum · Allium alibile · Altai Onion · Allium altissimum

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Allium thunbergii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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