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Cichorium intybus
Is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. When flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from 30 to 100 centimetres (10 to 40 in) tall. The leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed. The flower heads are 2 to 4 centimetres (0.79 to 1.6 in) wide, and usually bright blue, rarely white or pink.
It lives as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America and Australia, where it has become naturalized.
Wild chicory leaves are usually bitter. Their bitterness is appreciated in certain cuisines. It can be used as a substitute of coffee.
Spotted on Apr 6, 2012
Submitted on Apr 18, 2012
2 Comments
In Spain too. It has a bitter taste but it can pass as coffee substitute :-)
Beautiful! I've never seen the Chicory flower before. Apparently it was widely used as a coffee substitute during food rationing in WW2 & for many years after in England.