Dwarf artichoke
Cynara humilis
Family · Asteraceae · Irritating
The wild artichoke of southern fields, with large white leaves spread on the ground and a huge purple head in the middle. It is the one that gives the vegetable rennet of Portuguese sheep cheeses.
Fields and pasture · Montado · Scrubland · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known aswild artichoke
How to tell it
A rosette of large, deeply cut, spiny leaves, green above and white-felted beneath, nearly flat on the ground. A solitary head five to ten centimetres, with broad bracts ending in a strong spine and a tuft of violet-blue florets at the top. A short or nearly absent stem.
What it is confused with
Cotton thistle
Onopordum acanthium
Cotton thistle is tall, with a winged stem and small heads; wild artichoke is low, nearly stemless, with a single large head and broad scale-like bracts. Only wild artichoke gives rennet.
Open sheet →What it is for
The dried flower stigmas are the vegetable rennet that makes Serra da Estrela, Azeitão and Nisa cheeses, which is why this plant underpins part of Portuguese cooking. The receptacle was eaten like an artichoke, after scraping off the spines. Traditional use, and the flower is gathered without pulling up the plant.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.