Cynara

• Cynara cardunculus is the cardoon, artichoke thistle, or wild artichoke. The stems of cultivated varieties are used as food around the Mediterranean. It is a common source of a coagulant used as an alternative to rennet in the manufacture of cheese, with the advantage that the cheese is then fully suitable for vegetarians; many southern European cheeses are traditionally made in this way. The more commonly eaten globe artichoke is usually considered to be an ancient cultigen of this plant. Cardoon is an invasive species in United States, Argentina, and Australia.
• Cynara humilis is a wild thistle of southern Europe and north Africa which can be used in cheesemaking like C. cardunculus.
• Cynara scolymus is the common edible globe artichoke. It differs from C. cardunculus in that the leaf lobes and inner bracts of involucre are less spiny.
• Cynara cornigera leaves and flowers are eaten raw or cooked in Crete.

Species

• Cynara algarbiensis - Spain, Portugal
• Cynara auranitica - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Turkey
• Cynara baetica - Spain, Morocco
• Cynara cardunculus - cardoon - from Ireland + Canary Islands to Azerbaijan; naturalized in other regions
• Cynara cornigera - Greece, Libya, Cyprus, Egypt, Libya
• Cynara cyrenaica - Crete, Libya, Cyprus
• Cynara humilis - Spain, Portugal, Algeria, Morocco, Canary Islands
• Cynara makrisii
• Cynara scolymus - artichoke - area of origins unclear but probably Mediterranean; widely cultivated and naturalized
• Cynara syriaca - Cyprus, Iran, Lebanon, Syria
• Cynara tournefortii - Morocco, Spain, Portugal