Cynara
(from kyon, a dog; the spines of the involucre being likened to dogs' teeth). Artichoke. ORD. Compositae. A genus containing about six species of hardy herbaceous thistle-like perennials, natives of the Mediterranean region and Canary Islands. Involucre broad or sub-globose; coriaceous bracts in many series; receptacle fleshy, flat, densely setose; pappus hairs many-seriate, plumose. Although some of these are much more generally grown for economic purposes than for floricultural ornament, few plants are more stately or effective when planted in the backgrounds of borders or the outskirts of shrubberies. For culture and propagation, see Artichoke (Globe) and Cardoon. C. Cardunculus. Cardoon. fl.-heads purple; scales of involucre ovate. August and September. l. spiny, all pinnatifid. h. 5ft. South Europe, 1658. (B. M. 3241.) C. horrida (horrid). fl.-heads purple. August and September. l. pinnatifid, downy beneath, spiny; spines of the base of leaves and pinnae connate at base. h. 6ft. South Europe, &c., 1768. (S. F. G. 834.) C. Scolymus. Globe Artichoke. fl.-heads purple, very large; involucre consisting of oval-obtuse, sometimes emarginate, downy scales. Autumn. l. long, nearly pinnatifid, somewhat spiny; under surface covered with white cottony down. h. 3ft. to 6ft. 1548. This is not a species, but merely a cultivated form of C. Cardunculus; it is nowhere found wild.