Crop Type: Garden Crop
Breeding system: Predominantly allogamous
Cardoon is a biannual species, belonging to the Asteraceae family. Descends from the same wild plant as the artichoke. Cardoon probably came from Spain and southern France to Central Europe. In the 17th century, Huguenots brought cardoon from southern France to the Geneva area. The expelled Huguenots, including many experienced gardeners, began to cultivate vegetables in the heart of the city. This led, among other things, to the development of various cardio varieties which are still named 'Plainpalais' after their region of origin. Cardoon is used to cook the traditional Geneva Christmas dinner, the 'Gratin genevois à la crème'.
ReferencesContribution by ProSpecieRara, Switzerland.