Common name:
Chicory
Family:
Scientific name:
Cichorium intybus
Main flower color:
Range:
Wales and southern England
Height:
Up to 100 cm
Habitat:
Verges, dry grassland, fields, often on calcareous soils
Flowers:
Flowerheads, up to 4 cm in diameter, form at the leaf nodes; they contain 15 to 20 pale blue ray florets, five-lobed at the tip, and with a column of fused, dark blue anthers at the base, from which projects a two-lobed stigma. Phyllaries are of two types; longer, spreading below the florets, and shorter, broader below. All have a sparse covering of bristly hairs
Leaves:
Basal leaves are broadly lanceolate, unlobed and unstalked, with smaller leaves, or lobes, at the attachment point, while stem leaves are narrower, and clasping. On thick, sparsely bristly, faintly grooved stems
Season:
June to September
Rarity:
★★★★★
