Wildflowers

If I hadn't gotten a call on my cell phone, I would have never gotten this wildflower picture. I do not like to talk on the phone and drive so I try to find a safe spot to pull over. In this case, I was on a gravel road and there was no one around, so I just pulled over. While I was sitting there chatting, I noticed this wildflower. Once off the phone I hopped out of the car with my trusty camera. It's a Chicory. I suppose I have seen it before, but I don't have any pictures of it.


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My favorite wildflower identification site has this to say about it:

This native of the Mediterranean region is considered a weed.

Chicory has been used for salad greens and the root as a coffee substitute.

The flowers are usually blue, but can occasionally be white.

The flower heads open in the early morning and close around noon on bright days.

Native Americans boiled the roots to make a wash for fever sores and steeped the roots to create a nerve tonic.

Chicory has a deep taproot.

Will give a bitter taste to milk when consumed by dairy cattle.

I find the factoid of it opening early in the morning and closing around noon to be very interesting!