Artichoke

a name given to two very different, coarse, composite plants. The European or French artichoke is a coarse thistle-like plant with blue and white flowers. Portions of the large flower heads are pickled, cut for salads, or cooked and served like cauliflower. The globe variety is popular in the United States, chiefly in the milder climate of the south. The Jerusalem artichoke is a broad-leafed, coarse, wild sunflower, native in Canada and the upper Mississippi Valley. The tuberous roots were collected by the Indians for food. It has been introduced into some parts of Europe. In America artichokes have value as stock food. The tubers are fed chiefly to hogs. On the same principle that grain is scattered in straw to give hens the exercise of scratching, artichokes are planted in hog pastures for the pleasurable exercise they afford the hog in rooting, as well as for the small amount of potato-like food they supply.