Chicory is a very widespread plant. I was just in NYC and saw many roadsides covered in it and see the same thing here in SLC. So this plant thrives in two cities with very different climates. This plant has buds all over its stems and rotates the flowers that bloom. Thus, it flowers for a long period of time and it reminds me somehow of a christmas tree in slow motion with bulbs that alternate.
Chicory has many uses. Its leave have been cultivated for salads and its dried and ground roots have been used as a coffee additive or substitute.
This plant is an biennial or perennial in the Asteraceae family and is native to Europe. It starts growing as a basal rosette (a group of leaves low the the ground) and then puts up its stems that have very few leaves but many flower buds (see below). Its leaves can be mistaken for Lactuca serriola, however, L. serriola (which I will post about at a later date) has spikes long the mid-vein on the back of the leaf, which C. intybus does not (see photo).
Chicory has many uses. Its leave have been cultivated for salads and its dried and ground roots have been used as a coffee additive or substitute.
This plant is an biennial or perennial in the Asteraceae family and is native to Europe. It starts growing as a basal rosette (a group of leaves low the the ground) and then puts up its stems that have very few leaves but many flower buds (see below). Its leaves can be mistaken for Lactuca serriola, however, L. serriola (which I will post about at a later date) has spikes long the mid-vein on the back of the leaf, which C. intybus does not (see photo).