Wherefore art thou artichoke?

At least you'll never be a vegetable; even artichokes have hearts! Amelie Poulain
So let's get to the heart of the matter... that is the delicacy revered in this thistly cousin of the daisy. There are three main artichokes we know of: the Jerusalem or sunchoke, which is really named for the girasole　(Fr. sunflower) by French missionaries in North America　whose tubrous root resembles potatoes; the Chinese artichoke which is a flowering mint whose tuber is also consumed; and the globe artichoke, which is a perennial thistle whose head we lop off before it blooms from its leathery leaved bud. The forerunner of the globe choke was probably the cardoon, cultivated by ancient Mediterranean cultures; the cardoon is also prized for its stalks, which when trimmed are quite like celery. The choke in artichoke refers to the immature florets inside the globe's bud, which are spiny and inedible; allowed to mature, they blossom into a spiny purple flower. 80% of the U.S. crop comes from Castroville, CA, which likes to call itself the "Artichoke Capital of the World. According to myth, Zeus,　while visiting his brother Poseidon,　was smitten by a　fair-haired beauty named Cynara, who he arduously pursued. Rebuffing his advances, she was made into a goddess, but alas, she was not happy on Olympus and began to visit her earthly home on the sly. Infuriated, Zeus turned her into a thistle; her name is the genus from which all thistles issue.