Well...I have several different kinds. Some have very dandelion-like leaves. Some have smooth leaves. There's one that is sort of curly, and while I wouldn't call it a "head" exactly, it's more head-like than many of the others. I know that at least some of them will get very tall and produce purple daisy-like flowers, but I haven't been paying close enough attention so know exactly which of them will do it -- I think it's the one with the dandelion-like leaves. This one grows wild all over my area, and I've also seen it growing on the roadside in Germany. My Italian neighbor tried to explain the different kinds of chicory to me, but her English is only so-so, and my Italian is nonexistent. She called one kind "Catalanian" or something like that. When she spoke of different varieties, she gestured to her hair (which is curly) and my hair (which is straight), and said "It's like that." She said that one of the things growing in my garden was escarole (which she says came from my neighbor on the other side, who speaks even less English), but I'm confused about whether she was trying to say that this was yet another kind of chicory, or if it's something different. She said I can cook them all the same way. At any rate, I only recently realized that Belgian chicory was anything like the same thing at all, so I started to wonder. Maybe I should try it, if I can find the space to let some of these grow out over the Summer.

I would think that you should be able to harvest seeds from the wild. That is where it first came from to be dried grounded and roasted.

Lettuce and chicory are related so the fact that they have similar flowers would make sense. They both belong to the Asteraceae family. And in case you're wondering it also includes things like asters (obviously), endive, artichokes, jerusalem artichokes, sunflowers, mums, etc. Rodney This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Wed, Jul 24, 13 at 18:42

It is both, IMHO. Especially if you haven't seen one for years.