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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