From Blue to Purple 



of ray flowers only, 5-toothed aj upper edge, and set in a 

 flat green receptacle. Stem: Rigid, branching, 1 to 3 ft. high. 

 Leaves: Lower ones spreading on ground, 3 to 6 in. long, 

 spatulate, with deeply cut or irregular edges, narrowed into 

 petioles, from a deep tap-root ; upper leaves of stem and 

 branches minute, bract-like. 



Preferred Habitat — Roadsides, waste places, fields. 



Flowering Season — J uly — October. 



Distribution — Common in Eastern United States and Canada, south 

 to the Carolinas ; also sparingly westward to Nebraska. 



At least the dried and ground root of this European invader is 

 known to hosts of people who buy it undisguised or not, accord- 

 ing as they count it an improvement to their coffee or a disagreea- 

 ble adulterant. So great is the demand for chicory that, notwith- 

 standing its cheapness, it is often in its turn adulterated with 

 roasted wheat, rye, acorns, and carrots. Forced and blanched in a 

 warm, dark place, the bitter leaves find a ready market as a salad 

 known as " barbe de Capucin " by the fanciful French. Endive 

 and dandelion, the chicory's relatives, appear on the table too, in 

 spring, where people have learned the possibilities of salads, as 

 they certainly have in Europe. 



From the depth to which the tap-root penetrates, it is not un- 

 likely the succory derived its name from the Latin succurrere = 

 to run under. The Arabic name chicourey testifies to the almost 

 universal influence of Arabian physicians and writers in Europe 

 after the Conquest. As chicoree, achicoria, chicoria, cicorea, 

 chicorie, cichorei, cikorie, tsikorei, and cicorie the plant is known 

 respectively to the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, Germans, 

 Dutch, Swedes, Russians, and Danes. 



On cloudy days or in the morning only throughout midsum- 

 mer the " peasant posy " opens its "dear blue eyes " 



"Where tired feet 

 Toil to and fro ; 

 Where flaunting Sin 

 May see thy heavenly hue, 

 Or weary Sorrow look from thee 

 Toward a tenderer blue ! " 



— Margaret Deland. 



In his "Humble Bee" Emerson, too, sees only beauty in the 



' ' Succory to match the sky ; " 



but, mirabile dictu, Vergil, rarely caught in a prosaic, practical 

 mood, wrote, 



" And spreading succ'ry chokes the rising field." 

 70 



