CHICORY 



Chicory is a sprawling, awkward, weedy plant whose generally 

 dishevelled appearance is somewhat compensated by the dehcate 

 beauty of its blossoms. The leaves cluster at the ground and the 

 flowering stems are long and stiff and bare. The flowers appear 

 singly or in twos, alternate upon the lengthening stems which are 

 about two feet long and have at base a 

 collection of ripening heads, then flowers, 

 then buds. At the end of the season the 

 last flower surmounts the stem and sur- 

 veys the wreck of summer's glory. The 

 blossom is of exquisite beauty. Every 

 floret is a ray and every ray is fertile and 

 all are blue — pale, tender blue; corolla, 

 stamens, and styles together make up the 

 total of delicate color. 



The plant has escaped from cultivation 

 and may now be found "waiting by the 

 way" from the Atlantic coast to the Missis- 

 sippi. But nowherfe does it seem to have 

 struck deeper root and made itself more 

 thoroughly at home than in the vicinity of 

 Boston. In the morning from June till 

 October the waste places of the city are 

 illuminated with the shimmer of divine 

 blue over the green of the grass and weed. 

 Creatures of the morning, by afternoon 

 their fleeting life has passed. A younger and as fair a blos- 

 som will appear to-morrow — and the impulse of life moves 

 steadily on. 



Chicory is a waif from the Far East, and it still repeats the echo 

 of its Egyptian name, chikourzeh. The strong tap-root which is 

 universally used as an adulterant of coffee gives it a commercial 

 value; and a perverted taste affirms that coffee is better when 

 associated with Chicory. In this connection there is a tale told 

 of Prince Bismarck good enough to be true. The story runs that 

 once, finding himself in a country inn and greatly desiring a cup of 



SOS 



Chicory. Cichbrium intybus 



