Beautiful blue, a common color along roadsides right now. It is blooming time for Chicory (Cichorium intybus).

Chicory is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to western Asia, North Africa, and Europe.

It found its way to North America probably in the 1700s as European settlers were arriving on our shores.

The plants grow to 1.5 to 3 feet tall. The flowers are 1 to 1.5 inches across with 10 to 20 blue ray florets, each floret has 5 tiny teeth at its tip. At the center of the flowers are blue stamens with blue anthers. The flowers open in the morning and as the sun becomes the brightest the flowers close, that is unless it is cloudy, then those flowers will remain open longer.

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