Isn't life just one great big voyage of discovery?
I have been living here in the Lot et Garonne for nearly four years now and stunned quite literally every month from early spring through to late summer by a different wild flower that pops up to grace the meadows and hedgerows.
I asked members of the Landscape Juice Network for help in identifying this French wild flower and Kerrie came to my rescue pointing me towards Chicory - Cichorium intybus.
The plant stands about five feet tall and has a quite harsh woody stem which strips skin from your hands if you try to pull it up.
The flowers range in colour from a deep blue to sky blue and pale blue. Chicory is a member of the Aster - Asteraceae - family and is also often referred to as Monk's Beard and Succory.
The leaves have been used for over four thousand years as a vegetable that can be eaten hot or cold and also on salads and was known to have been used in ancient Egypt around the time of Cleopatra for both culinary and medicinal purposes.
Medically, Chicory can help with digestive and liver disorders and reduce cholesterol.
Probably the most common use is as an addition to coffee to create a much more mellow, fuller and sweeter taste but also, because chicory does not contain caffeine, it can be added to coffee making it an ideal to reduce the caffeine intake for the consumer when used one part Coffee and one part chicory.
What I can also tell you is the flower is quite special although, during the hottest part of the day, the flower will close up and make the meadow look quite scruffy because all you can see is the tall, lanky and ugly stems.
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