Chives is the common name of Allium schoenoprasum. It, like most of the other species of the Allium genus, is a choice edible.A perennial plant, it is widespread in nature across much of Europe, Asia and North America.A. schoenoprasum is the only species of Allium native to both the New and the Old Worlds.The name of the species derives from the Greek σχοίνος, skhoínos (sedge) and πράσον, práson (leek).