Common chicory plant: description
The chicory plant is a welcoming bush with purple flowers along roads and glades. Known since ancient times as a universal remedy, chicory grows wild and unkempt, waiting to be dug up.
Wild chicory grows more than 1 m in height. This herbaceous perennial has a straight, branched stem with fine hairs and a long, powerful root, reaching 1,5 meters. Basal rosette consists of separate pinnate leaves. The middle leaves are narrow, lanceolate with serrated edges, and the upper ones are also lanceolate, but even along the edges.
The chicory plant settles along the roads
Flower baskets crown the stem or are located in the axils of the upper leaves. The flower petals resemble chamomile, but each petal has 5 small teeth. Shades of inflorescences are blue, white or pink.
Chicory is loved by bees. But in cloudy weather, the flower is inaccessible to them. Chicory grows almost everywhere: in the temperate climate of Russia and Western Siberia, in Central Asia, it is also found on other continents. It grows like a weed along roads, in wastelands and in vegetable gardens.
Common chicory in folk medicine
In chicory, all parts are used: roots, stems, leaves and its bitter milky juice. The plant is just a storehouse of nutrients. Vitamins, minerals and the most valuable polysaccharide – inulin, which is vital for people with diabetes.
The roots of the plant must be dug up in September – October, and the grass must be harvested during the flowering period. The roots must be washed, chopped and dried. They can be stored for up to 3 years. The shelf life of the herbal part is a year. From chicory they prepare:
- Root decoction. It is used to improve appetite as a diuretic and choleretic agent.
- Infusion of roots. It is used to treat inflammatory processes of the genitourinary system and skin problems.
- Juice that treats anemia, acne and diathesis, and when mixed with carrot and celery juices, it improves vision.
Chicory has a positive effect on arrhythmia, lowers blood pressure, dilates blood vessels. Inulin, the amount of which is 60% of dry weight, improves metabolism, lowers blood sugar, and improves the functioning of the endocrine system. A coffee drink is prepared from the roots of the plant, which invigorates, cheers up, sharpens attention, and also relieves excess weight.
Modest chicory bushes – so unpretentious and unobtrusive, have great potential for curing various ailments. However, do not take these funds haphazardly. Only a doctor can tell you how much they will benefit you, not harm.