Editing Cardoon (section)

==Cultivation==
[[File:Cynara cardunculus - Royal Botanical Garden, Madrid.JPG|right|thumb|Cultivated cardoon foliage, Madrid Royal Botanical Garden, without leaf spines.]]
The two main [[cultivar group]]s are the cardoon (''Cynara cardunculus'' Cardoon Group, syn. ''C. cardunculus'' var. ''altilis'' DC), selected for edible leaf stems, and the [[artichoke]] (''Cynara cardunculus'' Scolymus Group, sometimes distinguished as ''Cynara scolymus'' or ''C. cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' (L.) Fiori), selected for larger edible flower buds. They differ from the wild plant in being larger (up to 2 m tall), much less spiny, and with thicker leaf stems and larger flowers, all characteristics selected by humans for greater crop yield and easier harvest and processing.<ref name=Sonnante/><ref name="pfaf">{{Cite web|title=Cynara cardunculus Cardoon|url=https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cynara+cardunculus|url-status=live|access-date=7 December 2021|website=PFAF Plant Database|publisher=Plants For A Future|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203005213/http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cynara+cardunculus |archive-date=2012-02-03 }}</ref> Wild and cultivated cardoons and artichokes are very similar genetically, and are fully interfertile, but have only very limited ability to form [[hybrid (biology)|hybrids]] with other species in the genus ''Cynara''.<ref name=Sonnante/>

The earliest description of the cardoon may come from the fourth-century BC Greek writer [[Theophrastus]], under the name {{lang|grc|κάκτος}} ({{langx|la|cactus}}), although the exact identity of this plant is uncertain.<ref name=Sonnante/> The cardoon was popular in [[Greek cuisine|Greek]], [[Roman cuisine|Roman]], and [[Persian cuisine]], and remained popular in medieval and early modern Europe. It also became common in the vegetable gardens of [[colonial America]], but fell from fashion in the late 19th century and is now very uncommon.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}

In Europe, cardoon is still cultivated in [[France]] ([[Provence]], [[Savoie]], [[Lyonnais]]), [[Spain]], and [[Italy]]. In the [[Geneva]] region, where [[Huguenot]] refugees introduced it about 1685, the local cultivar ''Argenté de Genève'' ("Cardy")<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tb.bdn.ch/varieties/27140/view/|title=BDN: Argenté de Genève (4-009-1)|work=bdn.ch|access-date=2011-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110112126/http://tb.bdn.ch/varieties/27140/view/|archive-date=2014-11-10|url-status=dead}}</ref> is considered a culinary specialty. "Before cardoons are sent to table, the stalks or ribs are [[Blanching (horticulture)|blanched]] tying them together and wrapping them round with straw, which is also tied up with cord, and left so for about three weeks".<ref>Vilmorin-Andrieux, M. & Robinson, W. (1885/undated). ''The vegetable garden: Illustrations, descriptions, and culture of the garden vegetables of cold and temperate climates''. English Edition. Jeavons-Leler Press and Ten Speed Press. [https://archive.org/details/vegetablegardeni00vilmrich 1920 edition in Internet Archive]</ref> Cardoons also are common vegetables in northern Africa, often used in Algerian or Tunisian ''[[couscous]]''.

{{nutritional value | name=Cardoon, raw
| kJ=71
| water=94 g
| protein=0.7 g
| fat=0.1 g
| carbs=4.07 g
| fiber=1.6 g
| calcium_mg=70
| iron_mg=0.7
| magnesium_mg=42
| phosphorus_mg=23
| potassium_mg=400
| sodium_mg=170
| zinc_mg=0.17
| manganese_mg=0.256
| vitC_mg=2
| thiamin_mg=0.02
| riboflavin_mg=0.03
| niacin_mg=0.3
| pantothenic_mg=0.338
| vitB6_mg=0.116
| folate_ug=68
| source_usda = 1
| note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169981/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry]
}}

Cardoon stalks can be covered with small, nearly invisible spines that can cause substantial pain if they become lodged in the skin. Several spineless cultivars have been developed to overcome this.

Cardoon requires a long, cool growing season (about five months), and while it is not particularly frost-sensitive, in heavier freezes it may lose its leaves and resprout, or in extended hard freezes, die. It also typically requires substantial growing space per plant, so is not much grown except where it is regionally popular.

In cultivation in the [[United Kingdom]], this plant has gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]].<ref name=RHSPF>{{cite web|title=Cynara cardunculus AGM|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/76926/Cynara-cardunculus/Details|publisher=Royal Horticultural Society|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web  | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants – Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 22 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 24 January 2018}}</ref>