Appearance

Growth form

A perennial with stiff, angular branches up to about 5 ft (1.5 m) tall. If mowed, it can bloom just inches above the ground. Broken stems and leaves ooze a bitter milky sap.

Leaves

Basal leaves look much like dandelion leaves, with deep lobes. Leaves get much smaller up the stem.

Flowers

Light blue flower heads about 1¼–2 in (3–5 cm) across sit along the stems; white or pink ones are rare. Each petal-like ray is squared off with five small teeth at the tip, and each head lasts only one day.

Flowering time

May through October in Missouri.

Look-alikes

Images coming soon

Florida lettuceLactuca floridana

Florida lettuce keeps well-developed leaves all the way up the stem, and its seeds carry tufts of hair. Chicory's stem leaves are much smaller than its basal leaves, and its seeds have only a low crown of scales.

Why they get mixed up · Both have small blue flower heads and milky sap.

cornflowerCentaurea cyanus

Cornflower has narrow, linear leaves, and the outer florets of its flower head are enlarged so they only look like petals. Chicory's flower head is made entirely of flat, strap-shaped rays with toothed tips.

Why they get mixed up · Both have bright blue flowers.

Where it lives

Typical habitats

• roadsides
• fields
• pastures
• railroads
• vacant lots

Range

Native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. It has spread widely in the US and Canada; in Missouri, for example, it grows statewide.

Preferred conditions

Moves quickly into disturbed, open ground, but it competes poorly with established native plants. It favors limestone soils.

Flowering

Flowers May–Oct

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Flowers

Flowers May–Oct

Connected species

Ties with other wildlife

Grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars of butterflies and moths eat the leaves.

Pollinators

Bees and other insects gather nectar and pollen from the flowers.

Close relatives

• endiveCichorium endivia

  An annual salad green in the same genus, often mixed up with chicory by name.

Name and classification

About the name

In the US, the name "chicory" is sometimes also used for endive (Cichorium endivia), while leaf chicory is often sold as "endive."

Varieties and forms

Crop forms include leaf chicory, red-leaved radicchio, Belgian endive (witloof, grown in the dark for pale shoots), and root chicory grown for coffee and inulin.

Culture and stories

Culture and stories

• Chicory coffee caught on in New Orleans when Civil War blockades cut off coffee shipments, and roasted chicory was widely used to stretch coffee during the Great Depression.
• Chicory roots are a commercial source of inulin, a fiber used in supplements and as a filler in foods like yogurt.