Artichoke

vegetables · flowers · plants

Thistle in disguise. Artichokes are a cultivated variety of a thistle plant, which means they're related to those prickly weeds you see in fields. But instead of being a pest, this one grows delicious flower buds we can harvest and eat.

Edible flower bud. What you eat when you eat an artichoke is actually the flower bud before it opens and blooms. If you left an artichoke in your garden long enough, it would eventually flower into a beautiful purple bloom.

Tasty leaves. The part you eat is made up of lots of overlapping leaves, and each leaf has a tender bit at the base that you can scrape off with your teeth. The creamy heart in the middle is the best part for many people.

Mediterranean origin. Artichokes come originally from the Mediterranean region and have been eaten for thousands of years by people living around that area. Today they grow in warm places around the world.