Witloof chicory
Cichorium intybus Witloof Group · Daisy family
Plant portrait
Belgian endive is a chicory whose forced shoots form pale compact chicons.
Harvested part
The chicon, a leafy shoot produced by forcing.
What to watch for
Distinguish the green garden rosette from the pale chicon produced in darkness.
Growth stages of the Witloof chicory
Plotilo illustrates the Witloof chicory in 5 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.
- Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
- Small sprout
A short first stem and its first small leaves emerge.
- Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
- Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
- Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.
Same botanical family
Same botanical family as the Witloof chicory (the daisy family): the lettuce, the globe artichoke, the greater burdock, the cardoon, the chicory, the paracress and 4 more plants from the catalogue. Gardeners usually avoid growing the same family in the same spot several years in a row: that is the idea behind crop rotation.
- Lettuce Lactuca sativa
- Globe artichoke Cynara cardunculus Scolymus Group
- Greater burdock Arctium lappa
- Cardoon Cynara cardunculus
- Chicory Cichorium endivia
- Paracress Acmella oleracea
- Yacon Smallanthus sonchifolius
- Salsify Tragopogon porrifolius
- Scorzonera Scorzonera hispanica
- Jerusalem artichoke Helianthus tuberosus