Chicory
LAWRENCE JENKINS
E. R. JACKMAN
CHICORYCichorium intybusShowing portion of stem with leaves and flowers, nature
of root growth, basal leaf, and seed.
Seed magnified 6 diameters.
Oregon State System of Higher Education
Federal Cooperative Extension Service
Oregon State College
Corvallis
Extension Bulletin 557
July 1941
Chicory
(Cichorium intybus)
By LAWRENCE JENKINS and E. R. JACKMAN*
Illustrations by Cathrine Davis Young
Other names: Succory, Blue sailors, Bunk.
Chicory is a perennial most commonly found on poor land along roadsides, in meadows, pastures, and waste places. It reproduces by seed and has
a tap root much like dock but generally larger. New shoots are sent up from
the crown and not from underground roots as is the case with Canada thistle
and many other weeds.
Chicory is just a weed, and a persistent one, in this country. It is cultivated
for profit in Europe, where the roots are dried and used as a substitute or
adulterant for coffee. Leaves are also cooked and eaten as greens. Since its
bright blue flowers are attractive, some have planted the weed as an ornamental.
It grows from 2 to 7 feet tall. The stems are hollow, slightly hairy, and
branched, and become very hard and woody at maturity. Few leaves are
present in the upper part of the weed, giving it a coarse stemmy appearance.
Flower heads are 1 to 2 inches wide, a deep blue color, and are borne in
groups of from 2 to 4. Generally only one flower head in a group is open at
a time. Most of them open in bright sunlight and close about noon. Lower
leaves closely resemble those of common dandelion. Seed is 1, inch long, dark
brown or straw colored, mottled with brown. An average plant will produce
about 3,000 seeds.
Seed is often carried in crop seed, especially clovers, alfalfa,
and grasses. The plant contains a milky juice that is somewhat bitter.
Control. Since this weed does not produce underground rootstocks,
eradication is not difficult. It does have a persistent crown that will continue
to produce new shoots if not destroyed. If just a few weeds are present, the
best and cheapest way is to dig out or cut off the root below the crown.
Cultivation should be deep and directed at cutting the plant off below the
crown and leaving it on the surface to dry out. A cultivated crop will often
eradicate the weed in one season if cultivations are frequent.
If the ground is hard when the weeds are dug or hoed and there is doubt
about destruction, a pinch of sodium chlorate or salt should be put on the
cut surface. In some cases the plants can be pulled up ; where this is possible
best control can be obtained by pulling the plant root and all when the soil is
moist.
This is one of a series of 39 bulletins discussing 58 perennial weeds in
Oregon and their control. A list of bulletins in this series will be found on
the last page of Extension Bulletin 510. The individual bulletins are punched
so that several may be bound together if desired.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The authors thank Dr. Helen M. Gilkey, Curator of the Herbarium, for reading the manuscript and checking the description of the plant. Professor
G. R. Hyslop, In Charge, Division of Plant Industries, made many helpful suggestions.
E.
R. Jackman is Extension Specialist in Farm Crops and Lawrence Jenkins is
Assistant Extension Specialist in Farm Crops at Oregon State College.
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics
Wm. A. Schoenfeld, Director
Oregon State College and United States Department of Agriculture, Cooperating
Printed and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914