Chicory
Cichorium intybus
Found in roadsides, fencerows, vacant lots, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
—
Not native
Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 3–4 feet
- Spread
- 1.5–2 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial or perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to November
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
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Recorded in 2 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Cichorium
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Lacinipolia implicataImplicit Arches
- Lacinipolia renigeraBristly Ground Cat, Bristly Cutworm Moth, Kidney Spotted "Mamestra"
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Cichorium
- Colletes compactus
- Perdita octomaculata
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimGrowing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Soil pH
- Neutral to alkaline
- Flower color
- Blue
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Grows in clumps
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late May to November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Blue” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Grows in clumps” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “3–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Minnesota Wildflowers differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Biennial or perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “blue” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Neutral to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “1.5–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Florida rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications