Post History

This "extra maror" is known as "chazeret", and it's not always a different food than the maror; I've definitely seen instances where both the chazeret and the maror on the seder plate were lettuce.

One reason for having two types of bitter herb is because the passuk (verse) about maror uses the plural form, "mrorim", indicating more than one.

To quote from *The Jewish Book of Why* (1981) by Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch:

> **Why is the vegetable called *chazeret* placed on the Seder tray?**  
>
> *Chazeret* (also pronounced *chazeres*) carries the same symbolism as the *maror* (bitter herbs) that is placed in one of the six compartments of the Seder tray. The vegetable selected for the *chazeret* is cucumber, watercress, radish, or any other vegetable that tends to become bitter.  
The use of *chazeret* has been related to the biblical verse, "They shall eat it [the Paschal lamb] with unleavened bread and bitter herbs" (Numbers 9:11). It has been explained that since the Book of Numbers speaks of herbs in the plural (*merorim*), this vegetable, *chazeret*, was included on the Seder tray in addition to the *maror* vegetable.  
Not all authorities considered it mandatory to use *chazeret* at the Seder meal. We know that Rabbi Isaac Luria, the sixteenth-century mystic (also known as the Ari, which is an acronym for his name, ha-Ashkenazi Rabbi Isaac), did use *chazeret* at his Seder table. But we also know that the equally famous eighteenth-century scholar Rabbi Elijah of Vilna, Lithuania (better known as the Vilna Gaon), did not use *chazeret*. Practically all Seder trays manufactured today have six compartments (indentations), one reserved for *chazeret*.

Unfortunately, Rabbi Kolatch doesn't bring his sources within that short article, and certain sources contradict his claim about what vegetables are used as maror... which brings me to my next possibility:

There are differing customs about what to use as maror, and we need to make sure we're using something that counts.

From the ספר הלכות פסח (*Halachos of Pesach*) by Rabbi Shimon D. Eider:

> With what species does a person fulfill his mitzvah of eating *maror*? The Mishna lists five types of plants which are considered *maror* [Psachim 39]. They are: a) חזרת, b) עולשין, c) תמכא, d) חרחבינה, e) מרור. חז"ל have determined that no other species is called *maror* except for these five species [Shulchan Aruch].

While I'm not going to quote the whole thing, he details that option a), "chazeret", is what we generally use nowadays as maror: lettuce. The second one is considered by "some Psokim"[^1] to be endives or escarole. The third is horseradish, and we don't know what the last two are.

However, to quote a little more:

> Which portions of the vegetable may be used to fulfill the mitzvah of *maror*? One may use the leaves and stalk but not the roots.

When people use horseradish for maror, what they're very often using is the root. This is, I presume, for the same reason that my family traditionally uses potatoes for karpas, despite that also being supposed to be a green, leafy vegetable; green, leafy leaves and stalks are hard to come by in places like Poland during Nissan, and so you make do with what's available.

Now, even though potatoes are what my family traditionally uses, we always make sure to have something green for karpas as well (usually celery), because that's the halacha. For the same reason, people whose tradition it is to use horseradish root may very well choose a second option for chazeret, such as lettuce, to make sure that everyone is fulfilling their obligations and at the same time keeping their traditions.

You mention you generally see horseradish and endive; this would fall under that. The horseradish root doesn't technically fulfil your obligation, but it's tradition; the endive does fulfil your obligation. Since there's this idea of "mrorim" in plural anyway, it fits nicely into this tradition of having two separate spots on the seder plate, one for maror and one for chazeret.


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[^1]: The reference given unfortunately goes over my head. It is, in its entirety, "ע' כה"ח ס' תע"ג אות ע"ב". I'm not familiar with what that acronym might be.