Common chicory Cichorium intybus

Features

Perennial with rhizome. Habitat - dry grasslands, fields, along paths, on ruins.

Species	Perrenial
Living space	Cultivated areas, Field, Meadow
Size	1,5 m

Description

When flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem. It can grow to 1,5 metres tall. The leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed. The flower heads are 3–4 cm wide, and usually light purple or lavender; it has also been described as light blue, and rarely white or pink. Of the two rows of involucral bracts, the inner is longer and erect, the outer is shorter and spreading. Very common on dry grasslands, fields, along paths and on ruins from the lowlands to the Montana belt. Coffee substitute was obtained from the roots. It has been known as a medicinal plant since the Middle Ages.