Chicory

Asteraceae

LIFE FORM: Perennial

NATIVITY: Eurasia

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

Tall flower stalks can grow to 5 feet tall and emerge from basal rosette of dandelion-like leaves; mowed plants are much shorter.

FLOWERS:

Bright blue flowers produced from July through October; open in the morning and close by afternoon.

FRUIT/DISPERSAL AGENTS:

Seeds dispersed by birds.

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE:

A common roadside plant with a deep, persistant taproot. Prefers trampled lawns in public parks; neglected residential and commercial landscapes; minimally maintained public parks and open space; vacant lots and rubble dump sites; small-scale pavement openings (tree pits) and cracks; chain-link fence lines; unmowed highway banks and median strips with frequent salt applications; railroad tracks with ballast substrate.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTION:

Salt tolerance along roadways; drought tolerance on compacted soils; food and/or habitat for wildlife; erosion control on slopes.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:

Sometimes grown as vegetable crop for greens; root used as coffee substitute as well as for a variety of medicinal uses; milky sap can cause allergic dermatitis.