COMPOSITAE 



COMPOSITE FAMILY 



COMMON CHICORY. BLUE SAILORS 



Cichoritim Intybus L. 



The Common Chicory or Blue Sailors is yearly becoming more 

 common along roadsides and railroads and in other waste places. 

 It is an immigrant from Europe and in this country ranges from 

 Newfoundland to Minnesota and 

 southwest. Its pulverized root has 

 been extensively used as a substitute 

 for or an adulterant of coffee. 



It is perennial from a long deep 

 taproot, and its stem is stiff, with 

 some stiff bristly hairs, much 

 branched and 1-3 feet high. The lower 

 leaves are 2-^ inches long, variously 

 toothed or lobed and narrowed into 

 long petioles. Those of the stem 

 are much smaller, lanceolate or ob- 

 long, lobed or entire, and have clasp- 

 ing bases. 



The heads, 1-4 together in sessile 

 clusters on the nearly naked branches, 

 ■ are numerous and very showy. They 

 bloom from July to October, opening 

 in the morning and closing usually 

 by noon. The flowers are strap shaped 

 and usually bright blue, though oc- 

 casionally pink or white ones are 

 found. Inner bracts of the involucre 

 are about 8. The akenes are 5-angled 

 and 5-ribbed, and the pappus is com- 

 posed of numerous small chaffy 

 scales. 



Another immigrant with purple flowers that is becoming common 

 along roadsides and railroads is the Salsify, Tragopogon porrijolius 

 L,, which has escaped from vegetable gardens, where its root is 

 known as the familiar Oyster Plant. It has a smooth branching stem 

 i-\y2 feet high, and grasslike clasping leaves. The large solitary 

 heads are very showy, on peduncles that are very much thickened 

 and hollow for 1-3 inches below them. The bracts of the involucre 

 are usually longer than the flowers. The pappus is composed of many 

 long feathery bristles, and the akenes are often more than i inch 

 long, the outer covered with scalelike tubercles. 



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