cardoon

plural cardoons · alternative cardon · alternative chardon · alternative chardoon

1. Any member of the species Cynara cardunculus of prickly perennial plants which has leaf stalks eaten as a vegetable, related to the artichoke.

   In the sixteenth century, Ruellius speaks of the cardoon as a food that was appreciated as asparagus is today.

   2001, Clifford A. Wright, Mediterranean Vegetables: A Cook's ABC of Vegetables and Their Preparation

   2 more examples

   Means: m. Void, and emptie places between beds in gardens, reserved for speciall hearbes; such are the spaces left for Cardoons betweene rowes of Onyons.

   1611, Randle Cotgrave, A dictionarie of the French and English tongues

   As I have already said, I nowhere saw the cardoon south of the Salado; but it is probable that in proportion as that country becomes inhabited, the cardoon will extend its limits.

   1839, Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle

   Synonyms: artichoke thistle, ground thistle, prickly artichoke