Endive (Cichorium endivia L.)
Daisy family
(Asteraceae)
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Varieties with different leaf shapes
| Endive with flowering shoots
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Source: Wolf-Garten; Bock D., MPI
Distribution, Yield, Use:
- Distribution:
Grown in South-, West-, and Mid Europe,
Egypt, Iran, North India, China, Japan, South
Africa, Brazil and in the Carribean.
Limited warmth requirements for a salad plant,
but frost sensitive.
- Yield :
500-700 kg/100m3
- Use:
Salad vegetable
Endive contains
95% water, 2% carbohydrate,
1-2% protein, 0.2% fat.
Region of origin:
Region of cultivation:
- Cultivation and Breeding:
Endive grows wild in the whole mediterranean area.
The leaves were already used in ancient times, predominantly for medicinal purposes.
In the late middle ages, cultivation of winter endive as a salad vegetable developed in Europe. Head forming varieties with wide unserrated leaves (var. latifolium) or with deeply toothed curly leaf cover (var. crispum) have been bred.
As a long-day plant, endive which is sown too early in summer forms flowering shoots rather than pronounced leaf rosettes.
- Breeding aims:
The breeding aims largely conform to those of lettuce.
Text by
Wolfgang Schuchert
Adapted to HTML by R.Saedler