Cardoon

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Cardoon

Cardoon flower head

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Cynara
Species:	C. cardunculus

Binomial name

Cynara cardunculus
L.

The cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), also called the artichoke thistle, cardone, cardoni or cardi, 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. Battered and fried, the stems are also traditionally served at St. Joseph's altars in New Orleans.

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.

Cardoon has attracted recent attention as a possible source of biodiesel. The oil, extracted from the seeds of the cardoon, and called artichoke oil, is similar to safflower and sunflower oil in composition and use.^[1]