Chicory

a perennial herb belonging to the composite family. It is a native of Europe. The leaves are not unlike those of a dandelion, but the plant sends up a tall, branched, flowering stem. The flowers vary in color, sky-blue predominating. Like the dandelion it has escaped from cultivation and is found along the roadside. It is of value chiefly for a long, carroty root, much used as a substitute for coffee and as an adulteration of ground coffee. For this purpose the roots are washed, sliced, and dried in kilns. Chicory is put on the market, ground and unground. It is raised easily from the seed. From six to ten tons of roots are expected to the acre. American wholesalers import from 2,600,000 pounds to 4,000,000 pounds of chicory root annually. See Coffee; Tea; Cocoa