The Welsh onions are of little value, except in cold latitudes; and are rarely found in the vegetable gardens of this country.
CHAPTER III.
ASPARAGINOUS PLANTS.
The Artichoke. Asparagus. Cardoon. Hop. Oosung. Phytolacca.
THE ARTICHOKE.
Cynarus scolymus.
The Artichoke is a hardy perennial. The stem is from four to five feet in height, with numerous branches; the leaves are of remarkable size, frequently measuring three feet, and sometimes nearly four feet in length, pinnatifid, or deeply cut on the borders, and more or less invested with an ash-colored down; the mid-ribs are large, fleshy, and deeply grooved, or furrowed; the flowers are large, terminal, and consist of numerous blue florets, enclosed by fleshy-pointed scales; the seeds (eight hundred and fifty of which are contained in an ounce) are of a grayish color, variegated with deep brown, oblong, angular, somewhat flattened, and retain their vitality five years.
