This is an uncommon, introduced perennial which grows 100cm high. It has 25-40mm flower-heads which are clear, bright blue, all ray florets, strap-shaped and spreading with toothed tips. The flower-heads are in loose spikes on branched, grooved, stiff stems which produce latex when broken or cut. They usually open in the morning and in sunny weather. The basal leaves are pinnately lobed, roughly spoon-shaped in outline. The stem leaves are lanceolate, clasping the stem. Chicory is found in bare places, roadsides, mostly calcareous soils. It seems to be confined to the East and South East of Ireland and it belongs to the Asteraceae family.
I first recorded this species at Ballon, Co Carlow in 2012 when I also photographed it.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
