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Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-656
Root Chicory
Cichorium intybus var sativum
Chicory Root Coffee is a deep-taprooted perennial with sky-blue flowers that open at dawn and shut again as the day heats up. Its roasted, ground root has stretched or replaced coffee for generations, especially in Louisiana, while the bitter young leaves go into salads and the flowers make a garnish. The same taproot makes it a serious forage and grazing crop - lambs on chicory pasture have out-gained those on ryegrass - and it pulls nutrients up from far below the reach of shallow-rooted grass. It shrugs off drought and heat once established, though the leaves toughen and the plant bolts to flower as the season warms.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 3–8
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moderate · Moist
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 5.5–8.3
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1–4.9 ft
- Mature spread
- 18–24 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–36 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
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Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
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African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
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Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
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Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
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Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
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Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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