100 Species #s 5 & 6: Chicory & Queen Anne's Lace

One of the best things about walking the sweet girl to camp most mornings is the opportunity to see the beautiful summer wildflowers in bloom on the roadsides. Two that grow in abundance around here are Chicory (Cichorium intybus) and Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus Carota).

In fact, they grow in such abundance that we often pick some for our small green vase on the kitchen table.



Chicory is actually a flowering herb. The flowers are sometimes called "blue sailors" which I love. The fragile blooms look strikingly blue in the early morning light, though they seem to fade to lavender and then a purplish-tinged creamy white as they dry and fade.

Queen Anne's Lace is actually wild carrot. That tiny red flower you often see right in the middle is supposed to represent a drop of blood from a finger pricked while making the lace.