Chicory

It grows along roads in wild and stony fields. It is one of the most common herbs we cut to boil before its bud blossoms.

Scientific Name:
 Cichorium intybus

Family: Asteraceae (or Compositae)

Kythera Name: Radiki, Pikroradiko

Name in other places of Greece:
 Radiki, Radikio(Crete island), Pikralida, Pikromaroulo, Pikra, Padoulia(Limnos island), Pikrokolla, Pikroradiko

Collection: It is collected from autumn to spring before its blossoming.

Properties: Sour, tonic, stomachic, diuretic, slightly cholagogue and cathartic. Additionally, it has properties against asthma and inflammations. Pharmacological properties are known from ancient years. Chicory leaves tone up ingestion, stimulate appetite and act as dissolvent and they are beneficial for liver, gallbladder and organs.