Changes

– Broad-leaved types: *Escarole, broad-leaved endive (En). *Scarole, chicorée scarole (Fr). *Chicória escarola (Po).

– Narrow-leaved types: *Endive, curly endive (En). *Frisée, chicorée frisée (Fr). *Chicória frisada (Po).

*Annual or biennial, erect herb up to 170 cm tall, with taproot containing bitter milky juice, producing a rosette of large leaves when young, these forming a loose head. *Leaves alternate, simple or pinnatifid, sessile, broad, up to 45 cm × 18 cm, slightly crumpled, margin entire or dentate (escarole type) or very narrow, deeply pinnatifid and strongly curled (curly-leaved type), progressively smaller upwards on stem, slightly pubescent or glabrous, pale to dark green or yellowish, sometimes reddish along midrib. *Inflorescence a head, 1–6 together, sessile or on up to 20 cm long, apically thickened peduncle; involucre with outer row of 5 bracts 7–10 mm × 2–5 mm, and inner row of 8 bracts 8–12 mm × 1–3 mm. *Flowers 15–20 per head, all ligulate; corolla up to 2 cm long, blue, sometimes white, 5-lobed at apex; stamens 5 with anthers fused into a tube; ovary inferior, 1-celled, style slender, hairy, with 2 slender stigmatic lobes. *Fruit an obovoid to cylindrical achene 2–3 mm × 1–1.5 mm, brown, with pappus of 1–3 rows of small, persistent membranous scales.

* L.P.A. Oyen , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Oyen, L.P.A., 2004. '''Cichorium endivia''' L. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.