Cichorium intybus Seeds - Common chicory

Cichorium intybus, better known as common chicory, or wild endive, is a perennial characterized by its summer blooms of an irresistible shade of blue, as deep and clear as the summer sky. Whether it grows in the degraded soils of roadsides in the South of France or it invades entire fields in the North of France, it makes a dazzling impression. It is a well-branched plant with deeply cut basal leaves, all parts of which are bitter to the taste. It grows and flowers rapidly, thriving in full sun, in any ordinary soil, even dry and clay soil.

Common chicory is native to Southern Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor and is very common in uncultivated fields, meadows and roadsides. It is a hardy herbaceous plant that develops a taproot and belongs to the family Asteraceae. It forms a basal rosette from which emerge erect, more or less pubescent, bright green stems that grow 40 to 100 cm high, depending on the soil in which it grows. Its inflorescences appear in summer, earlier in hotter climates and later until autumn in cooler ones. They are flower heads made up of intense blue ligulate flowers that bloom directly on the end of the stem or at the base of the branches. They measure 2 to 3 cm in diameter and only open in bright, sunny weather. The blooms are followed by the formation of fruits called achenes that are topped with a pappus and contain the seeds.

Wild chicory is ideal in wild gardens with dry soils. It is one of the few plants, along with poppies, that manage to grow in degraded soils, around recent constructions. It is also perfect for filling gaps in rock gardens. The blue hue of its flowers combines beautifully with the yellow blooms of Heliopsis, the orange corollas of the California poppy or the red blooms of blanket flowers.