What did arti choke?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

January 23, 2004

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Apparently, most of Europe was not familiar with the artichoke (Cynara scolymus Linnaeus) until the sixteenth century. John Gerard, ever up on the latest plants, grew artichokes "of a greenish red colour" which he called "Cinara maxima Anglica" or the great English artichoke. In Gerard's day (1597, pre-Linnaeus), the genus was spelled with an 'i' and the "Latine name" was generally believed a reference to cinis or ashes since "The plant must be set and dunged with good store of ashes...." (wood ashes worked into the

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soil).

Today, the genus, Cynara, is generally accepted as a Latinized form of the Greek word kynara for artichoke and related to kynos, for dog; kynara meaning something akin to dog-thorn. The species epithet, scolymus, is taken from another Greek name for the plant, skolymos and is related to skolos meaning any pointed object or thorn.

The common name artichoke is uncertain as to its derivation and meaning. According to the Century Unabridged Dictionary (1889), it may well be that artichoke was simply a bastardization from the Portuguese alcachofra, the Spanish alcarchofa, and the Italian articiocco, along with a host of other derived names. The name may have entered the European languages from the Spanish-Arabic (Moors) al-kharshofa, derived from the Arabic ardi-shauki, possibly a reference to the thorns which are technically spines.

But the dictionary offers an alternative for artichoke. The plant and the edible receptacle of the bud were known variously as artichocke, archichock, artichou, artichowe, artichau, and artichault; a hodge-podge of English, Italian, Spanish, and French words. In this sense, artichoke appears built from arti-, arte-, harti-, or archy-, derivations either from the English heart or the Latin hortus (garden) and -choke, -chock, -choak, or -chooke. The dictionary offers the explanation "that which chokes the garden or the heart". From personal experience, if the immature florets with their bristles are not carefully removed before eating, it also chokes the throat.

Castroville, California will be celebrating its forty-eigth annual Artichoke Festival in May, 2007. To learn more about this weekend of fun and games dedicated to a "thistle", click on the link:

http://www.artichoke-festival.org/

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

Suggested Reading:

What is an artichoke? Weird Plants - January 22, 2004
Why must horseradish be grated? Weird Plants - August 15, 2002
How could horseradish help the environment? Plants that Changed History - August 20, 2002
Why did seafarers plant pineapples? Plants that Changed History - April 16, 2002
What medicinal root is a common vegetable today? Herbal Folklore - November 12, 2001
What is the tomatl? What's in a Name? - November 22, 2002
What plant is eight vegetables? Weird Plants - October 23, 2003

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