Cardoon
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| Cardoon | ||||||||||||||
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| Missing image Cynara_cardunculus0.jpg Cardoon flower head | ||||||||||||||
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The cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), also called the artichoke thistle, is a member of the thistle family related to the Globe artichoke. While the flower buds can be eaten much as the artichoke, more often the stems are eaten after being blanched by being wrapped or buried in earth.
Cardoon stalks can be covered with small, nearly invisible spines that can cause substantial pain if they become lodged in the skin of the hand. Several "spineless" cultivars have been developed to overcome that drawback, but care in handling is recommended for all types.
Cardoon requires a long (c. 5 month), cool growing season, but is frost-sensitive. It also typically requires substantial growing space per plant, and hence is not much grown save where it is regional favorite.
The cardoon is highly invasive, and has become an important weed of the pampas in Argentina, and also in California because its adaptation to the dry climate; it is also considered a weed in Australia.
External links
- General information: http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod01/01600689.html
- A modern herbal (early 1900s): http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/artic068.html
- http://www.wegmans.com/kitchen/ingredients/produce/vegetables/cardoon.asp
- Recipes: http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-VEGETABLES/artichokes-msg.text
- Home-growing cardoon: http://growingtaste.com/vegetables/cardoon.shtmlfi:kardoni