Compoelte ifamil^. 



Chicory. - (Jicliorkvia Intyhus. 



Succory. 



Blue Sailors. 



Found, from July to September, growing in dry waste places. 



The stalk, -which varies from 2 to 4 feet in height, is branching, 

 and leafy, rather large, stout and tough of fibre, and rigid in growth ; 

 it is grooved and hairy. The color is gray-green. 



The leaf is not large, oblong in shape, with a sharp tip; the margin 

 is slightlj- notched, with spreading hairs along the edge ; the midrib is 

 strong and the surface is hairy ; the gesture curving, oi- wavy. In 

 color, gray-green. The lower leaves are sharply cut at the base. The 

 arrangement is alternate, and the leaves clasp the stalk. 



The flower is " strap-shaped," rather broad, with a finely notched 

 ti[) ; the texture is very fine and thin, and the surface is shining and 

 smooth. The color is an exquisite gray-blue or lavender, sometimes in- 

 clining to lilac, or even to pink. The flowers are arranged in heads, 

 composed of several rows, spreading from a leafy green cup, which is 

 closely surrounded by 4 or 5 little leaves (or " bracts ") : all these parts 

 being hairy. The heads are set close to the stalk in groups of twos and 

 threes, in the angles of leaves, or singly on short stout stems. 



These charmingly colored blossoms are scattered all along the stalks 

 and branches, beginning near the foot, where they first open, not more 

 than a few being in perfection at once. This scantiness of bloom and 

 the stiff weediness of its growth make the Chicory plant less loved than 

 it deserves for the peculiar beauty of its blue flowers. It grows most 

 profusely near the seaboard, and in vacant city lots or neglected door- 

 yards it bravely tries to hide the ugly remnants of civilization thrown 



aside IdV man. 



296 



