Radicchio, sometimes known as Italian chicory because of its common use in Italian cuisine, is a perennial cultivated form of leaf chicory. It is grown as a leaf vegetable and usually has colorful, white-veined red leaves that form a head. Radicchio has a bitter and spicy taste that mellows if it is grilled or roasted.
Radicchio
Red radicchio of Treviso - 1954, Touring Club Italiano
Common chicory is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the family Asteraceae, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Native to the Old World, it has been introduced to the Americas and Australia.
Chicory
Botanical illustration (1885)
Leaves unlobed and pointed
Flower close-up