New plant for Kootenay - Euphrasia stricta

Chicory is also called Blue Sailors.

On August 20, 2013 a single Chicory plant was found growing at the Kootenay View Point. This exotic plant was introduced from Europe and is now naturalized in North America. It grows in the drier parts of BC in fields, roadsides and waste places. Over the years Chicory has been spreading northward in the Rocky Mountain Trench. They are normally found at lower elevations averaging around 600 meters. So this new sighting at the view point may also be a new elevation record at 1365 meters.Bill Merilees, former Kootenay Park Naturalist and author of Trees, Shrubs & Flowers to Known in British Columbia & Washington, says “the name chicory is familiar to many through the use of it’s deep taproot as a coffee substitute.”

Posted on November 23, 2019 01:42 AM by larryhalverson