• Family: Composite
• Culture: Biennial
• Climate: Moderate
• Length: Up to 45 cm

Growing
Endive cultivation takes place in four stages:

• in May, the chicory is sown in open fields, and it takes 170 days for it to produce roots;
• in October, the roots are pulled up; the leaves are cut down to 2 cm above the crown and the rootlets removed;
• the roots are then forced, either in a cellar or in earth covered with straw, for 21 days to produce a very white, compact endive;
• finally the endive is broken off from the root by hand and the outer leaves removed to produce a tight, firm head.