An artichoke is actually a what?

Question

a. a flower
A. a vegetable
B. an herb
C. a thistle
D.a fruit
E. none of these
F. all of these

Answer 1

Artichoke may refer to any of three types of vegetables. When unqualified, the term "artichoke" nearly always refers to the globe artichoke, of which the aboveground part is eaten, in contrast to the other two, where a root part is eaten.

The name in English originated from the Italian (northern dialect) word articiocco / arciciocco, from Old Spanish alacarchofa.

The Spanish term was derived from the Arabic al-karshuuf, which designated the vegetable in the Moorish world.

1 ) The Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus L.) is a species of thistle.

The edible part of the plant is the base (receptacle) of the artichoke head in bud, properly called a vegetable as it is harvested well before any fruit develops.

With regard to America, it was first brought to California by Italians in the 1880s, and is farmed mostly in that state.
See the picture of globe artichoke-
http://www.seedfest.co.uk/seeds/artichoke/artichoke.jpg


2 ) The Jerusalem artichoke Helianthus tuberosus is a species of sunflower, hence it's also called sunchoke. The edible part of the plant is the tuber.
see the tuber -
http://www.hrt.msu.edu/course/HRT204L/VEG_ID/Jartichoke.jpg
See the flower-
http://www.canonical.org/~paulv/images/dad/Jerusalem%20artichoke%20Crop%20146%204646.jpg

3 ) The Chinese artichoke Stachys affinis is a species of woundwort. The edible part of the plant is the tuber.
see the tuber of the above plant---
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/images/crosnes.jpg

Answer 2

A. Flower

Oh, hang on... it depends on whether you're talking about the "artichoke" as an edible "vegetable" - it's the (immature) flower of a thistle, commonly used as a vegetable, so it could, possibly be F.

Wikipedia provides a reference to the Globe Artichoke being used for herbal tea, so perhaps it could be referred to as a herb; the only one I'm not so sure about is the artichoke being referred to as a "fruit" - it isn't a fruit by any botanical classification, although it could be called "fruit" in the same way we call a fig a fruit (figs are also, botanically, flowers).

Unlike figs, however, artichoke hearts aren't sweet, and aren't eaten raw, so I'm not too happy about classifying artichokes as a fruit.

The best answer I can give for your question is this:

The artichoke plant is a thistle.
The artichoke is sold in markets as an immature flower.
The artichoke heart is used like a vegetable.
Artichokes are used to make herbal tea.

Answer 3

I would say it's all of these EXCEPT for D. fruit (although an argument could be made for including D).

a. the "choke" of an artichoke is made up of hundreds of flowers

A. the 'heart' and 'leaves' of the artichoke are vegetative parts of the plant (receptacle and phyllaries respectively)

B. the thistle plant is herbaceous

C. an artichoke is the inflorescence of a thistle plant.

D. an artichoke will go to fruit if you let it, but at that point it's no longer edible.

Answer 4

The artichoke is a developing flower that has not yet bloomed. We eat the bases of the outer leaves covering the flower where they attach to the stem. We then scrape out the actual flower petals in the center , the choke, and eat the base stem of the flower. It's considered to be a vegetable in that we eat the flower but not the fruit surrounding the seeds. It's an acquired taste but good if steamed long enough. Many people like them dipped in plain mayonnaise but some specialty dips are fun to try. Give it a try and enjoy!

Answer 5

A. flowers
The flowers develop in a large head from an edible bud about 8–15 cm diameter with numerous triangular scales; the individual florets are purple. The edible portion of the buds consists primarily of the fleshy lower portions of the involucral bracts and the base, known as the "heart"; the mass of inedible immature florets in the center of the bud are called the "choke."

Answer 6

atrichokes are a kind of thistle ( a composite, related to daisies and dandelions). most people concider these sorts of things vegetables, so this edible flower is "a" and "A" and "C". One could simply state "F", but flowers are not technically fruits and artichokes are usually eaten before they bloom. If they do and set seed, then they are fruits.

Answer 7

It's a thistle, yeesh. The "a. a flower" looks like it was added in later.

Wikipedia even says "The Globe Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) is a perennial thistle"

Answer 8

A flower. It is the very heart of the flower, almost to the stem.

If you let it seed, it will produce inedible fruit.
If you eat the plant, (it is inedible), but then you could say it is a vegetable. As a herb, it is useless, but some some new-age gypsy would likely tell you it cures baldness while selling it to you.

Answer 9

Technically a thistle
But the majority of people as you know place it and it's location in the Vegetable aisle right? So who cares
eat the heart scrape the leaves throw away the needles because they are poisonous end of story!

Answer 10

It is defenitly a flower. It has leaves and well, it just is.