Jiu Cai Zi

Allium tuberosum, garlic chives or Chinese chives, is a perennial bulb-forming herb in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to East and Southeast Asia and widely cultivated as a culinary and medicinal plant. It grows from clusters of small, narrow, slightly rhizomatous bulbs that produce dense tufts of long, flat, solid (not hollow), grass-like dark-green leaves 20-40 cm long with a mild garlicky odor. In late summer, leafless triangular scapes 30-60 cm tall bear terminal umbels of star-shaped, fragrant, white six-tepalled flowers. Following pollination, the umbel produces small three-lobed capsules, each containing several flat, angular, black seeds with a slightly wrinkled, brittle coat. Jiu Cai Zi refers to these dried mature seeds.