.png)
This little blue flower can be found sprouting up all along roadsides across most the Unites States.
It is prevalent in areas with decent rainfall and good drainage.
Virginia fits this shoe rather well, as the Appalachian Mountain range here creates an environment that exhibits both these preferences.
The variable elevation from the mountains down to Virginia's coast provides relatively good drainage characteristics found throughout the state. The coastal, water-saturated, air brings in rain that is pushed up and banked into clouds by the mountain range.
One can see the cyclical nature of this dynamic.
This sort of preferred environment is understandable, since chicories are native to Europe, a mountainous country with many coastal shores and hardy rainy seasons.
According to the Invasive Plant Atlas, this species (Cichorium intybus) is in fact an invasive species.
However, both Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica argue that despite it’s invasive history, it is now become largely naturalized into the ecosystems that they now reside.
Afterall, the true threat of an invasive species is their potential to disrupt the balance of local ecosystems. If they are well incorporated into the local food web, and are not dominating or pushing out native species, one can argue that this species can now be considered a functioning part of that ecosystem.
Invasive Plant Atlas: https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=5332
Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/plant/chicory
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory
I just think they’re pretty and are fun to take pictures of when you come across them, you know?
I took that picture of a chicory myself on my phone with my iNaturalist app.
They also have a website at https://www.inaturalist.org/.
iNaturalist says it best themselves;
They help people learn what’s in their neighborhood and to connect with nature.
And that’s what were all about here at the Native Network.
Find us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheNativeVA),
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/thenativeva/),
and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheNativeVA/).
iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/) is a incredibly useful tool for people to get familiar with their local wildlife. It is an interactive community of enthusiast, scientist, and the curious. You get to take pictures of wildlife on your phone! Then, from either iNat’s visual identification software or the community of researchers, the plant or animal is logged into the system and plotted on a world map. You can see in this screenshot where my chicory was logged! as well as some others from the local Farmville, Green Bay, Nottoway area.
Not only are you learning about the wildlife around you, you get access to a plethora of information about these cataloged critters. Such as something like, oh I don’t know, maybe, the Culinary uses of that chicory plant you just took a photo of?
Hm?? Pretty cool huh? You can get this sort of stuff, and tons of other information about the wildlife around you. Such as the history, the medicinal uses, the common misconceptions, and sooo much more. Check it out on your phones Appstore. Its real neat.
Take some pictures of pretty flowers, and maybe make them into a tasty snack or even drink.
I don’t know, do whatever you want, it’s your life. But it’s our wildlife. Aye! See what I did there! aha! Okay, gnarly, anyways, peace out fellow Natives. Till next time.
- The Native
Commentaires