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ENDIVE
Cichorium endivia L., family Compositae

Endive is a green leafy vegetable crop cultivated in the United States on a few thousand acres. It is biennial in seed production characteristics. Most of the seed is produced in California (Hawthorn and Pollard 1954*).

Plant:

Endive forms a large taproot and a rosette of leaves before producing the seedstalk, which elongates the second year. As a vegetable, the leaves are harvested when tender and are used primarily in fresh salads. Culture is similar to that of lettuce; the seeds are planted in the fall, and seeds are harvested the following early summer. As in lettuce, the seed heads on the plant do not mature uniformly so some shattering occurs when the seeds are harvested. Seed yields of 200 to 600 lb/acre for the smooth cultivars, 30 percent less for the curled cultivars can be expected (Griffiths et al. 1946*, Hawthorn and Pollard 1954*, Jones and Rosa 1928*).

Inflorescence:

The composite flower head is 1.0 to 1.5 inches across and is made up of 18 to 20 pale blue florets. The head opens early in the morning and closes before noon (similar to chicory). Numerous flower heads occur on the somewhat branched seedstalk.

Pollination Requirements:

Jones and Rosa (1928*) stated that the flowers of endive are perfect and mostly self-pollinated. Rick (1953) said that the flower is self-compatible. However Anderlini (1956) reported that better results were obtained in producing seed from cross-pollination of flowers than by self-pollination, which indicates that cross-pollination would at least be beneficial in seed production.

Pollinators:

No attention has been given to the pollinators of endive flowers. Considering the relatively few hours the flower is open, if insect pollination is utilized, the population of the pollinators on the flowers should be high.

Pollination Recommendations and Practices:

None.

LITERATURE CITED:

ANDERLINI, R.
1956. [FERTILIZATION IN SALAD PLANTS.] Sementi Elette 2(7): 63-65. [In Italian, English abstract.]

RICK, C. M.
1953. CHICORY-ENDIVE HYBRIDIZED. Calif. Agr. 7(9): 7.

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