Cynara cardunculus subsp. cardunculus

Artichoke, Artichoke

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Artichoke is a naturalized perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada foothills, Great Valley, Central Western, and Southwestern California in disturbed places at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces distinctive purple-blue flowers in large, impressive heads. Growing with robust stems up to 1 to 2 meters tall, it develops thick, branching growth with prominent leaf structures. Its large leaves have deeply lobed segments with unarmed or minutely spiny edges, some tips ending in needle-like spines up to 3 centimeters long. The plant produces edible flower buds that are traditionally harvested for culinary use.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: s SNF, GV, CW, SW

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Ventura, San Mateo, Merced, Sonoma, San Diego, Santa Barbara

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.