Cichorium intybus

Common chicory
1885 illustration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Tribe:	Cichorieae
Genus:	Cichorium
Species:	C. intybus
Binomial name
Cichorium intybus L.
Synonyms
Synonymy Cichorium balearicum Porta Cichorium byzantinum Clementi Cichorium caeruleum Gilib. Cichorium cicorea Dumort. Cichorium commune Pall. Cichorium cosnia Buch.-Ham. Cichorium divaricatum Heldr. ex Nyman Cichorium glabratum C.Presl Cichorium glaucum Hoffmanns. & Link Cichorium hirsutum Gren. Cichorium illyricum borb. Cichorium officinale Gueldenst. ex Ledeb. Cichorium perenne Stokes Cichorium rigidum Salisb. Cichorium sylvestre Garsault Cichorium sylvestre (Tourn.) Lam.

Chicory greens, raw

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	96 kJ (23 kcal)
Carbohydrates	4.7 g
Sugars	0.7 g
Dietary fiber	4 g
Fat	0.3 g
Protein	1.7 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv. beta-carotene lutein zeaxanthin	(36%) 286 μg (32%) 3430 μg 10300 μg
Thiamine (B1)	(5%) 0.06 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	(8%) 0.1 mg
Niacin (B3)	(3%) 0.5 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	(23%) 1.159 mg
Vitamin B6	(8%) 0.105 mg
Folate (B9)	(28%) 110 μg
Vitamin C	(29%) 24 mg
Vitamin E	(15%) 2.26 mg
Vitamin K	(283%) 297.6 μg
Minerals
Calcium	(10%) 100 mg
Iron	(7%) 0.9 mg
Magnesium	(8%) 30 mg
Manganese	(20%) 0.429 mg
Phosphorus	(7%) 47 mg
Potassium	(9%) 420 mg
Sodium	(3%) 45 mg
Zinc	(4%) 0.42 mg
Link to USDA Database entry
Units μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Belgian endive (witloof), raw

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	71 kJ (17 kcal)
Carbohydrates	4 g
Dietary fiber	3.1 g
Fat	0.1 g
Protein	0.9 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1)	(5%) 0.062 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	(2%) 0.027 mg
Niacin (B3)	(1%) 0.16 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	(3%) 0.145 mg
Vitamin B6	(3%) 0.042 mg
Folate (B9)	(9%) 37 μg
Vitamin C	(3%) 2.8 mg
Minerals
Calcium	(2%) 19 mg
Iron	(2%) 0.24 mg
Magnesium	(3%) 10 mg
Manganese	(5%) 0.1 mg
Phosphorus	(4%) 26 mg
Potassium	(4%) 211 mg
Sodium	(0%) 2 mg
Zinc	(2%) 0.16 mg
Link to USDA Database entry
Units μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Common chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the dandelion family Asteraceae, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons (blanched buds), or roots (var. sativum), which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. It is also grown as a forage crop for . It lives as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and is now common in North America, China, and Australia, where it has become widely naturalized. "Chicory" is also the common name in the United States for curly endive (Cichorium endivia); these two closely related species are often confused.

Common chicory is also known as blue daisy, blue dandelion, blue sailors, blue weed, bunk, coffeeweed, cornflower, hendibeh, horseweed, ragged sailors, succory, wild bachelor's buttons, and wild endive. (Note: "Cornflower" is commonly applied to Centaurea cyanus.) Common names for varieties of var. foliosum include endive, radicchio, radichetta, Belgian endive, French endive, red endive, sugarloaf, and witloof (or witlof).

When flowering, chicory has a tough, grooved, and more or less hairy stem, from 30 to 100 cm (10 to 40 in) tall. The leaves are stalked, lanceolate and unlobed. The flower heads are 2 to 4 cm (0.79 to 1.6 in) wide, and usually bright blue, rarely white or pink. Of the two rows of involucral bracts, the inner is longer and erect, the outer is shorter and spreading. It flowers from July until October. The achenes have no pappus (feathery hairs), but do have toothed scales on top.

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Wikipedia