Cynara cardunculus L. plant resources

Today it is accepted that both, globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. var. scolymits (L.) Fiori) and cultivated cardoon (C. cardunculus L. var. altilis DC.), evolved separately from wild cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L. var. sylvestris (Lamk) Fiori) as a result of different agricultural selection criteria. Traditionally, globe artichoke has been grown by vegetative propagation of suckers, although seed planted cultivars has been introduced in the latest years. The cardoon plant material is much less studied than globe artichoke one. Firstly, because it is a crop relatively less important in growing surface, and second, because it is mostly restricted to the Mediterranean area. Most varieties reported in the literature, either globe artichoke or cardoon, are considered in this paper arranged by morphological or genetic similarities.