Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
DISEASES AND PESTS
We have observed hardly any diseases on plants being grown for seed, though
endive rust (
Puccinia hieracii
), which can especially affect bolting endive plants, is described in the
literature. Light spots appear all over the infected plant, including on petals.
Just-withered endive flower stalks
CULTIVATION HISTORY
The ancestor of cultivated endive is the wild endive (ssp.
pumilum
), native to
the Mediterranean region; the family trees of the other two forms are not yet clear. The oldest verified
accounts of endive cultivation are from Italy around the birth of Christ. In central Europe, endive is
first given mention in Charlemagne's
Capitulare de Villis
. It was not until the 19th century, however,
that endive was grown in larger quantities and bred into different varieties.
CHICORY
Cichorium intybus
Wild chicory (
Cichorium intybus
var.
intybus
), with its brilliant blue floral displays along paths and
streets, is the ancestor of all cultivated varieties of chicory. This includes the red-white or yellowish
green radicchio, which is mainly grown in Italy, especially in the Veneto; radicchio takes two forms:
plants that develop into heads and plants that develop rosettes. A second type of chicory is sugarloaf,
once called
Fleischkraut
(flesh cabbage) in German, which is typically grown as an autumn/winter
salad crop. A third is Belgian endive (UK: chicory; despite its being called “endive” in the USA, this
is, botanically speaking, a type of chicory); this type is mostly grown for the production of chicons
(blanched chicory buds). All three types are considered leaf chicories (var.
foliosum
); root chicory is
var.
sativum
. All chicory cultivars contain the bitter compound lactucopicrin (intybin), which helps
with digestion, although radicchio contains much more than Belgian endive.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
• 15 well-developed and well-overwintered plants
