Chicory
Wild chicory
Wild chicory: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
Wild chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a herbaceous perennial in the daisy family. It is known for sky-blue flowers and upright stems, often found in meadows, beside paths and in open places. The species gave rise to several cultivated chicories, including radicchio, Belgian endive and sugarloaf. The wild form nevertheless keeps its own appearance, more branched and less focused on a leafy head.Early in its cycle, toothed or divided leaves form a rosette close to the ground. A long, thick taproot anchors the plant and allows it to persist from season to season. Flowering stems later grow tall, often around a metre and sometimes more according to conditions. They carry small leaves and branch into a fairly light structure, with flower heads distributed along the branches.What is commonly called a chicory flower is a head containing several small flowers. Together these form a radiating outline, bright pale blue in the most…
