After 3 months
Above the basal rosette of leaves up to 7 cm wide and 25 cm long, the upright, sparsely branched shoots, filled with latex and sparsely covered with lanceolate leaves, soon rise. The blue flower heads, up to 5 cm in size, open at the sides and ends at 6 a.m. They follow the sun and close again around midday, or a little later on cloudy days. Each of the stalked or sessile "flowers" looks like a single flower, but is actually a basket flower consisting of many five-lobed sky-blue, sometimes white, ray florets. The flowers offer abundant nectar and pollen – thus attracting many flower visitors, such as various bees, hoverflies, and other insects. The inactive fruits (achenes), up to 3 mm long, land in the surrounding area and germinate into new plants. In addition to many vitamins and minerals, chicory also contains plenty of bitter substances, the content of which increases over the course of the summer. These bitter substances promote digestion and stimulate the appetite; they have a positive effect on the stomach, intestines, liver, and gallbladder, and relieve flatulence and bloating. Therefore, chicory is included in many liver and gallbladder teas. Not only the leaves, but also the flowers taste distinctly bitter; you can mix them into herbal tea. The fresh, strong, fleshy root (see photo), which anchors the chicory deep in the soil, can be harvested from September onwards and is prepared as a wild vegetable. It was roasted primarily during World War II as a coffee substitute (chicory coffee, muckefuck).
Vegetable relatives
Root chicory was cultivated as a coffee substitute starting in the 18th century, but today it is experiencing a resurgence. When farmers harvested the chicory roots in the fall, they discovered the sprouting shoots in the winter, which are now used as chicory in salads and vegetables. The slightly bitter radicchio, sugarloaf, and endive are also related to chicory.
