Salad Greens List: Head and Leaf Types, Chicories and Cresses

Salad greens span several plant families: University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, in its publication Growing Salad Greens in Wisconsin, says most salad greens grown in that state belong to the Asteraceae (composite), Brassicaceae (mustard) or Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot) family, and that the majority are cool-season annuals. This salad greens list sorts the common ones with extension sources, compares eleven raw greens with USDA FoodData Central values and ends with CDC and FDA washing advice. Our guides to lettuce, spinach, arugula, watercress, endive and radicchio cover each green on its own, and our guide to leafy greens covers the cooking greens.

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Salad greens list by plant family

• Composite family (Asteraceae), the head and leaf types: Wisconsin Extension lists lettuce as Lactuca sativa, a cool-season, herbaceous annual in the Asteraceae family.
• Composite family, endive and escarole: Wisconsin Extension lists endive as Cichorium endivia, a hardy annual or biennial with a curly form and a broadleaved form called escarole.
• Composite family, radicchio and witloof: Wisconsin Extension lists both as Cichorium intybus and calls radicchio a cultivar of chicory.
• Goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae), spinach: Wisconsin Extension lists spinach as Spinacia oleracea, a hardy, cool-season annual, and places Swiss chard in the same family.
• Specialty greens: the Wisconsin Extension table lists arugula as Eruca sativa, cress as Lepidium sativum and corn salad, also called lamb’s lettuce or mache, as Valerianella locusta.

Wisconsin Extension says arugula, mizuna and dandelion are used in small quantities to add flavor to salad mix, while cold-tolerant crops such as mache, claytonia and cress extend the growing season.

Crisphead, butterhead, romaine and leaf types

University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension says four main lettuce types are commonly grown in the Midwest: crisphead, butterhead, romaine and leaf. Its descriptions of each:

• Crisphead: Wisconsin Extension says crisphead cultivars, Lactuca sativa var. capitata, are often synonymous with iceberg, a cultivar name, with large, heavy, brittle leaves; our guide to iceberg lettuce covers it in detail.
• Butterhead: Wisconsin Extension describes smaller, more compact heads with loosely crumpled leaves, more flavor and a buttery texture than crisphead, and names two distinct types, Boston and bibb.
• Romaine or cos: Wisconsin Extension lists romaine as Lactuca sativa var. longifolia, with elongated upright heads, coarse outer leaves and tender, flavorful inner leaves; our guide to romaine lettuce covers it in detail.
• Leaf: Wisconsin Extension says leaf cultivars, Lactuca sativa var. crispa, come in all types of shapes, colors and textures.

The chicory group: frisee, escarole and witloof

• Curly endive (frisee): Wisconsin Extension says curly endive is also known as chicoree or frisee and has narrow, lacy, deeply cut curly leaves, and that it withstands heat better than escarole, radicchio and witloof.
• Escarole: the broadleaved form of endive, with large, crumpled, smooth-edged leaves, according to Wisconsin Extension, which adds that escarole is more cold tolerant than witloof or curly endive.
• Radicchio: Wisconsin Extension describes loose, small heads similar to a pointed cabbage, typically red leaves that are white along the midrib and near the base, and bitter leaves that sweeten slightly in cooler weather.
• Witloof: Wisconsin Extension says witloof, also called Belgian endive or chicon, forms a tight cluster of upright leaves in its second year and is grown in the dark to blanch the leaves so they stay tender and less bitter.

Both curly endive and escarole have a slightly bitter taste, though much less so than radicchio, according to Wisconsin Extension. University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator Nancy Pollard says endive presents a peppery bitter note and radicchio a combination sweet-and-bitter taste.

Peppery greens and cresses

UGA Extension’s George Boyhan describes arugula as having a toasty, pungent flavor and calls it a favorite for mixes, and he writes that watercress has pungent sprigs that look like parsley. UGA Extension adds that cresses have a peppery flavor.

University of Illinois Extension’s Pollard groups arugula, mustard greens and chicories as the greens with a strong peppery flavor. She adds, in the same University of Illinois Extension article, that some describe spinach as mineral in taste but sweet when young.

Mesclun and salad mix

University of Illinois Extension describes mesclun as a mixture of assorted small, baby salad leaves, also known as a mesclun mix. University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension defines salad mix as a collection of greens pre-mixed and sold together, and says the greens can be grown as a mixture in the field or combined after harvest.

Pollard of University of Illinois Extension says any one of the strong greens alone can be overpowering, but mixed with an equal quantity of mild lettuces and a simple dressing they give a pleasing layering of flavors.

Salad greens compared in USDA data

USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy has raw entries for eleven of these greens. The table lists them per 100 grams, with SR Legacy’s cup or half-cup portion alongside, ranked by vitamin K. Each percent Daily Value (%DV) uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children 4 and older: 28 grams of dietary fiber, 90 milligrams of vitamin C, 900 micrograms of vitamin A, 120 micrograms of vitamin K and 400 micrograms of folate as dietary folate equivalents. SR Legacy has a cooked escarole entry but no raw one, and its witloof entry has no vitamin K value, so neither appears in the table.

Iceberg lists about 24.1 micrograms of vitamin K per 100 grams in USDA data, the lowest in the table. Raw spinach also lists about 194 micrograms of folate per 100 grams in USDA data, the highest figure in the table, ahead of endive at about 142 micrograms. Our list of foods high in vitamin K ranks more foods.

Greens, vitamin K and anticoagulants

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements says vitamin K can have a serious and potentially dangerous interaction with anticoagulants such as warfarin, and that people taking warfarin and similar anticoagulants need to maintain a consistent intake of vitamin K from food and supplements. Anyone taking such a medicine should talk with a doctor or healthcare provider before changing how much of these greens they eat.

Washing salad greens: CDC and FDA advice

The CDC final notice on a 2020 outbreak linked to leafy greens says the safest produce is cooked and the next safest is washed, and it lists steps for greens that will be eaten raw:

• CDC: wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water before and after preparing the greens.
• CDC: discard outer leaves and any torn or bruised ones; FDA likewise says to remove the outermost leaves of a head of lettuce or cabbage.
• CDC: wash greens if they are not labeled ready to eat, triple washed or no washing necessary; CDC notes that washing removes some germs and dirt but does not completely remove all germs.
• CDC: rinse under running water and gently rub the leaves; do not soak greens in a sink or a bowl filled with water, where CDC says germs can spread from one leaf to the others.
• CDC: dry the greens with a clean cloth or paper towel; FDA adds that there is no need for soap or a produce wash.

Herbs can join the bowl as well: our guide to types of mint covers spearmint, peppermint and the other kitchen mints, and our guide to culinary herbs covers the rest of the herb shelf.

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Last reviewed October 2026.