Allium strictum aka Erect Chive

Allium strictum Schrad., commonly called erect chive, is a bulbous geophyte in the onion family Amaryllidaceae (subgenus Reticulatobulbosa), originally described by Schrader in Hort. Gott. (1809). It is a Eurasian species with a broad native range extending from France eastward across temperate Europe and Asia to Yakutia in eastern Siberia.

The plant produces one or two small bulbs, typically up to about 8 mm in diameter, from which a slender flowering scape rises to roughly 80 cm tall. The leaves are flat, narrow (about 4 mm wide), and shorter than the scape. In summer, the plant produces a spherical umbel densely packed with many small flowers; the tepals are rose-pink to reddish-purple, each marked by a darker purple midvein, giving the inflorescence a characteristic two-toned appearance.

In the wild, Allium strictum is a plant of stony, well-drained habitats — typically rocky slopes, cliffs, and rock crevices — where it tolerates dry, exposed, sunny conditions. Its taxonomy is somewhat unsettled: while most modern checklists (including GBIF, World Flora Online, and Kew) recognise A. strictum Schrad. as the accepted name, some sources treat it as a synonym of the closely related Allium lineare L. Recorded synonyms include Allium angustum, Allium reticulatum, and Porrum strictum.