Participant Info

Species

Cichorium intybus

Family

Asteraceae

CommonName

chickory, cornflower

Presence

YES

Status

exotic

EarliestDate

1990

LatestDate

2019

Ecosystem

foothill, montane, ruderal

Geobotanical

SSanjuans

Counties

Conejos, Mineral

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

YES Mary E. McDonald, Conejos Co, along Hwy 17, 10 July 2014; Rich Haswell: Conejos Co, road to Terrace Reservoir 26 July 20192019)

Comments

There are only four records of chicory from the Watershed, although it is often seen by roads along the West Fork of the San Juan (e.g., Hwy 160). All four Watershed collections were roadside in the south San Juans: by Hwy 160 west of South Fork (1990), near Hwy 17 west of Antonito (1989 and 2014), and by CR 250 east of Terrace Reservoir (2019). These records would add Conejos and Rio Grande to counties indicated in Ackerfield (2022) and BONAP (2022). There can be little doubt that the plant is dispersed by road vehicles. Cichorium intybus is a perennial species, so a valid question is whether individual plants survive Watershed winters. This exotic is recorded from every USA state, and from the Rio Grande drainage in New Mexico down to the Mexican border. BONAP shows a Texas location in the drainage about 100 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It is on Colorado's C list of "noxious weeds."

Annotation