How Chicory Pollinates

Pollination

• In botany, chicory flowers are termed "perfect," meaning they contain both functioning male and female reproductive organs and, in theory, could self-pollinate. But, instead of self-pollinating, they rely on insects for pollination, typically the common flower pollinator, the honey bee.

Preventing Self-pollination

• Chicory and other members of the Asteraceae family prevent self-pollination by the way their flowers mature. The flowers develop anthers and pollen -- male reproductive parts of flowers -- before the flowers' styles are fully developed. The style, a female reproductive flower part, is a long receptacle tube for pollen. It leads down from the flower's center to the flower's ovary and eggs. As the style grows and lengthens, its tube is closed and it grows up through the flower's ring of anthers, pushing the pollen out of the anthers and making it available to insects. Eventually, the style grows beyond the anthers and opens fully, ready to accept pollen from another flower for pollination. By then, most of the flower's own pollen is gone.

Uses

• A wild form of chicory is considered a common weed, and a noxious and invasive plant in some states, notes the University of Oregon Forage Information System. Cultivated chicory is often used as animal forage and its leaves are a salad component for humans, frequently being mixed and used interchangeably with leaves of Cichorium endivia, commonly known as endive. Also nicknamed "coffeeweed," chicory's thick roots are roasted and used as a coffee additive or substitute.

Growing Chicory

• Grow chicory under ideal conditions by first testing soil with a kit from your local cooperative extension service and correcting any soil deficiencies. Plant chicory in a location that receives six to eight hours of sun daily, and has well-draining soil with a pH of 5.8 to 6.5. Chicory does best in a loamy soil and prefers moderate temperatures, but tolerates a range of soils and temperatures well. Plant seeds 1/2-inch deep after danger of hard frost in spring has passed, spacing rows 18 to 24 inches apart. Keep plants evenly moist throughout the growing season. If you want chicory roots and greens, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture recommends thinning seedlings nine to 12 inches apart, when they are 2 to 3 inches high. Young leaves for salads will be ready for harvesting in approximately in 60 to 70 days, when they reach 6 to 8 inches long.