Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Cichorieae
Genus: Cichorium
Species: C. intybus
Binomial name: Cichorium intybus
Common names: Common chicory, Blue sailors, Succory, Coffeeweed.
Cichorium intybus when flowering has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from 30 to 100 centimetres tall. The shiny deep green leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed. The lower leaves can be 30 cm long and 7 cm wide.
The flower heads have no stalk and are in two to three flower clusters. The flowers are 2 to 4 centimetres wide and are a bright sky blue colour. Cichorium intybus flowers from December to March. The root is long thick taproot.
It is usually seen on the side of roads and cultivated and waste places. Though it grows in paddocks and is eaten by stock the flowers are seldom seen there.
The roots have been used as a substitute for coffee. The leaves are eaten in salads.
Lower stem
The leaf
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
