If we cast a glance at the descriptions and names of _A. scorodoprasum_ in works on botany since the time of Linnæus, we shall see that the only point on which authors are agreed is the common name of _rocambole_. As to the distinctive characters, they sometimes approximate the plant to _Allium sativum_, sometimes regard it as altogether distinct. With such different definitions, it is difficult to know in what country the plant, well known in its cultivated state as the _rocambole_, is found wild. According to Cosson and Germain,[255] it grows in the environs of Paris. According to Grenier and Godron,[256] the same form grows in the east of France. Burnat says he found the species undoubtedly wild in the Alpes-Maritimes, and he gave specimens of it to Boissier. Willkomm and Lange do not consider it to be wild in Spain,[257] though one of the French names of the cultivated plant is _ail_ or _eschalote d’Espagne_. Many other European localities seem to me doubtful, since the specific characters are so uncertain. I mention, however, that, according to Ledebour,[258] the plant which he calls _A. scorodoprasum_ is very common in Russia from Finland to the Crimea. Boissier received a specimen of it from Dobrutscha, sent by the botanist Sintenis. The natural habitat of the species borders, therefore, on that of _Allium sativum_, or else an attentive study of all these forms will show that a single species, comprising several varieties, extends over a great part of Europe and the bordering countries of Asia. The cultivation of this species of onion does not appear to be of ancient date. It is not mentioned by Greek and Roman authors, nor in the list of plants recommended by Charlemagne to the intendants of his gardens.[259] Neither does Olivier de Serres speak of it. We can only give a small number of original common names among ancient peoples. The most distinctive are in the North. _Skovlög_ in Denmark, _keipe_ and _rackenboll_ in Sweden.[260] _Rockenbolle_, whence comes the French name, is German. It has not the meaning given by Littré. Its etymology is _Bolle_, onion, growing among the rocks, _Rocken_.[261] +Chives+—_Allium schœnoprasum_, Linnæus. This species occupies an extensive area in the northern hemisphere. It is found all over Europe, from Corsica and Greece to the south of Sweden, in Siberia as far as Kamtschatka, and also in North America, but only near the Lakes Huron and Superior and further north[262]—a remarkable circumstance, considering its European habitat. The variety found in the Alps is the nearest to the cultivated form.[263]