ENDIVE 



295 



ENDIVE 



Cichorium Endivia, L. CompositCB. 



French, Chicoree Endive. German, Endivien. Flemish and Dutch, Andijvie. Danish^ 

 Endivien. Italian, Indivia. Spanish and Portuguese^ Endivia. 



Native of the East Indies. — Annual and biennial. — A plant 

 with numerous radical leaves, smooth, lobed, more or less deeply 

 cut, and spreading into a rosette. Stem hollow, from 20 in. to 

 over 3 ft. high, channelled, and branching ; flowers blue, axillary, 

 sessile ; seeds small, angular, long, gray, ending in a point on one 

 side, and having a sort of membranous collar on the other. Their 

 germinating power lasts for ten years. All the varieties which 

 have sprung from Cichorimjt Endivia are distinguished by having 

 the leaves entirely smooth, both on the blade and on the stalk, and 

 by being of a more tender constitution and more sensitive to cold 

 than the cultivated varieties of Cichoriuin Intybus. 



Culture. — As Endive is a plant of rapid growth, highly 

 esteemed for table use, it is grown all the year round. The 

 gardeners about Paris commence to sow it in the open ground in 

 April, and make successional sowings up to the end of August. In 

 September and October they sow under cloches (or bell-glasses), 

 and from Decem.ber to April in hot-beds. (As far as possible, no 

 plants are grown in the open ground except those which have been 

 sown there, as, if planted out from hot-beds, they are liable to run 

 to seed the same year.) The seedlings are pricked out as soon as 

 they are strong enough and have seven or eight leaves, at a distance 

 of from 10 to 16 in. from plant to plant, according to the variety, 

 and, from the time they strike root until they are fully grown, 

 should be frequently and plentifully watered. Endive grown in the 

 open ground may be gathered for use from August, and the plants 

 will continue to yield, if properly looked after, either where they 

 stand, or removed to a vegetable-house, up to the end of winter. 

 During the remainder of the year, the plants which are sent to 

 table are raised under bell-glasses or in hot-beds. Before they are 

 gathered, the plants are usually blanched. For this purpose they 

 are left until nearly full grown, when the leaves are all tied up 

 together, so as to protect the heart of the plant effectually from the 

 action of sunlight. The plants are allowed to stand where they 

 grow, and are watered when necessary, care being taken not to let 

 any water get into the hearts, or they will be liable to rot. Endive 

 treated in this way will be fit for use in about twenty days. Any 

 plants which are standing when frosty weather comes on will con- 

 tinue to grow if protected by a covering of leaves or straw mats, 

 which should be removed when the weather becomes mild. In 

 this way the yield of the different varieties, and especially of the 

 Batavian Endive, may be prolonged for several weeks. Late- 



