Blue Composites, Chicory and Common Blue Sowthistle.
A few photos of these two blue flowered composites.
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| 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. |
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| Chicory, quite a tall thin plant with flowers on short stalks in clusters up the stem. |
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| Basal leaves are lobed. |
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| Stem leaves clasp the stem and have jagged edges. |
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| Open flower plus new buds. |
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| 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.
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| Pale mauve flowers about 30mm across. Common Blue Sowthistle, Peak District. 7th Aug 2020 |
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| 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. |
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| 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
