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Asteraceae
Chicory
Cichorium intybus
Frugality, patience, faithful waiting.
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Cichorium
- Native to
- Europe, north Africa, western Asia
- Bloom season
- Summer, Fall
- Type
- Herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 30–120 cm
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Hardiness
- 3–8
- Lifespan
- Long-lived perennial
Did you know
- Chicory flowers open at dawn and close by midday — Carl Linnaeus actually used it as one of the plants in his famous 'flower clock' designed to tell time by which flowers were open.
- The roasted roots have been used as a coffee substitute for centuries, and chicory coffee remains a beloved tradition in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Endive and radicchio are both cultivated forms of the same species, Cichorium intybus, bred for their edible leaves rather than their flowers.
- The flowers are an unusual sky-blue color rarely seen in roadside wildflowers, and bloom on tough, almost leafless stems.
- Chicory has incredibly deep taproots — up to 4 feet (1.2 m) long — making it one of the most drought-tolerant naturalized roadside plants in North America.
Color meanings
Blue
Quiet dawn