ACETARIOUS PLANTS. 303 



rises to the height of about two feet, and the flowers, 

 which are of a pale blue colour, bloom in July and 

 August. Like the lettuce, its leaves are used as an 

 edible before its flowering stem begins to appear. 

 These leaves are very harsh and bitter when exposed 

 to the air ; they are therefore blanched, and if this 

 be properly performed, they become crisp and tender, 

 and retain only an agreeable bitterness. Endive 

 may be blanched for use by tying the leaves together, 

 by earthing up the plants, or by covering them with 

 pots. By judicious culture and a succession of sow- 

 ing, endive may be obtained during autumn, winter, 

 and spring ; it is considered a valuable salad at a 

 time when few other vegetables are furnished for the 

 table ; and it also serves as an ingredient in some 

 other culinary preparations. 



SUCCORY, Chicory, or Wild Endive Cichorium 

 intybus. There is little doubt that the cichorium, 

 as mentioned by Theophrastus, in use among the 

 Ancients, was the wild endive, since the names by 

 which this plant is known in all the languages of 

 Modern Europe are merely corruptions of the original 

 Greek word ; while there are different names in dif- 

 ferent countries for the garden endive. 



Succory is a hardy perennial plant, not uncom- 

 monly growing about the edges of fields, in those 

 parts of England where the sub-soil is lime. It will 

 bear all the varieties of climate in Europe, being 

 cultivated from Italy to St Petersburgh. This plant 

 has a strong and fleshy root ; the leaves have some 

 resemblance to those of endive, differing only in being 

 narrower, more feathery at the edges, and having 

 the mid-rib beset with hairs. The flowering stem 

 rises much higher, sometimes attaining to five feet 

 in height ; the flowers are like those of the garden 

 plant in appearance as well as in time of blooming. 



This plant is not much valued or cultivated in 



