Chicory

Description:

Chicory was adopted as a coffee substitute by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, and has become common in the United States. Various varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons (blanched buds), or for roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for livestock.

Habitat:

A wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America and Australia, where it has become naturalized. Chicory is listed as a noxious weed in 46 US states.

Notes:

Spotted growing along the roadside near Skymount Scout Reservation