ABSTRACT
Artichokes are used as fresh, canned or frozen vegetables – the receptacle and the inner, soft bracts are the edible parts of the capitule. Cynara scolymus – the cultivated artichoke – belongs to genus Cynara, a member of subfamily Tubuliflorae of the Compositae. Cultivated and wild artichokes are hemicryptophytic rosette plants. The inflorescence is an “inflorescence group” composed of a ramified main stem, each ramification bearing first-, second-, or third-order capitules. Plants grown in growth chambers with minimum temperatures of 14°Celsius remained vegetative during 180 days at both an 8-hour and 16-hour day, indicating a requirement for low temperatures. Vernalization treatments may be given to pregerminated achenes, treatment of dry achenes being ineffective. Vernalization of wild Cynara syriaca seeds enhanced bolting if sown during the inductive photoperiod and caused partial bolting if sown in April, after the inductive photoperiod, meaning that cold requirements of wild and cultivated plants apparently are similar.
