Blue Composites, Chicory and Blue Sowthistle

 Blue Composites, Chicory and Common Blue Sowthistle.

A few photos of these two blue flowered composites.

The blue stamens look amazing with their dark blue edging. The white pollen coating the style and onto the curved stigma.  Chicory 12 July 2020, Guided Bus, near Rampton. 

Chicory, quite a tall thin plant with flowers on short stalks in clusters up the stem.

Basal leaves are lobed.

Stem leaves clasp the stem and have jagged edges.

Open flower plus new buds. 

Phyllaries in two rows, outer wide and overlapping. Ligules have glandular hairs which is an unusual feature of this species.  Chicory  12 July 2020

A similar species to Chicory (Cichorium intybus) in the UK is the Common Blue Sowthistle ( Cicerbita macrophylla) which is also regarded as a garden escape and is widespread in the UK. I had never seen one until a visit to the Peak District in August.

Pale mauve flowers about 30mm across. Common Blue Sowthistle, Peak District. 7th Aug 2020

Outer phyllaries overlapping and of very different lengths and have pale margins. Glandular hairs on phyllaries and stem but not on the pale mauve ligules.  

Mid Stem leaf clasping the stem with neat fine teeth on margins.

The Common Blue Sowthistle is a much more leafy plant than Chicory.  It originally came from the Urals. There are three other species of Blue Sowthistle in Britain, the native Alpine Blue Sowthistle found in a few high mountain gullies in Scotland, Hairless Blue Sowthistle a very rare garden escape from the Pyrenees and southern Europe and finally Pontic Sowthistle another garden escape from Georgia and north-eastern Turkey.

Peter Leonard, Rampton, Cambridgeshire, 7th Feb 2021