BLUE AND PURPLE WILD FLOWERS 



nips. Chicory was extensively used as a food by the 

 ancient Egyptians, and it was known to Virgil and 

 Horace nearly two thousand years ago. It is an erect, 

 branching, perennial herb, with a long, deep, fleshy 

 tap-root, and grows from one to three feet high. The 

 large, rigid, angular stalk is grooved, hairy, and rather 

 scrawly. The basal leaves slightly resemble those of the 

 Dandelion or Thistle, to which the plant is related. 

 They are sharply cut, and are narrowed into long stems 

 and spread along the ground. The upper ones are very 

 much smaller, lance-shaped or oblong, lobed and en- 

 tire, and clasp the stalk. The very exquisite, showy, 

 wheel-like blossoms are of a delicate, bright grayish 

 blue, rarely white, or sometimes tinged with purple, 

 and are scattered along the nearly naked stalk, at 

 short intervals, in twos or threes, for a considerable 

 portion of its length. They are set closely and ver- 

 tically against the stalk, amid several short, spreading 

 leaflets, or occasionally they terminate short, stout, 

 branch-like stems. The florets are strap-shaped rays 

 with noticeable square, ragged, five-toothed ends, 

 and are arranged in several spreading circles which 

 radiate from a flat, leafy green cup. The arrow- 

 shaped anthers are loosely clustered toward the centre 

 of the head. The flowers have a very faint odour, and 

 the green buds are tinted with purple. They open 

 only in the sunshine, and close at the noon hour. 

 They blossom from July to October, in fields and 

 along roadsides, from Nova Scotia to Minnesota, 

 North Carolina, Nebraska and Missouri. 



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