[9] 



II. On the Varieties of Cardoon, and the Methods of Cul- 

 tivating them. By Mr. Andrew Mathews, A. L. S. 



Read November 7, 1826- 



The Cardoon or Cardoon Artichoke, is the Cynara Car- 

 dunculus of Linnaeus ;* it was known to the older Botanists 

 as Cynara spinosa,^ and Scolymus aculeatus.t Parkinson, H 

 whose Paradisus was published in 1629, called it the Char- 

 don or Carduus esculentus ; in his time it appears to have 

 been much cultivated in Flanders, for he states that " J ohn 

 Tradescant assured him that he saw three acres of land 

 about Brussels, planted with this kind, which the owner 

 whited like Endive, and then sold them in the winter :" he 

 adds " that we cannot yet find the true manner of dressing 

 them," and this appears to be very true, for he mentions that 

 " the Chardon is eaten raw of divers, with vinegar and oyl, 

 pepper and salt, all of them or some as every one liketh for 

 their delight." Caspar Bauhin, who wrote a few years 

 previous to Parkinson, also states that it was so eaten. 

 Subsequently to the time of Parkinson, it got into cultiva- 

 tion in this country, though it is not now very generally seen 

 in English gardens, nor by any means so much used as in 

 France, and the Southern parts of Europe. As an esculent, 

 however, it has much merit, though it requires more skill in 



* Linn.ei Sp. Plant. Edit. 1, 827, Edit 2, 1159. Willdenow Sp. Plant. 3, 

 1691. 



f C. Bauhin Pinax, 383. \ Tabern,emontani Hist. 1075. 



f| Parkinson Paradisus, 520, pi. 519, fig. 5. 

 VOL. VI I. C 



