Łódź, Botanical Garden

It is native to the Mediterranean region. Ornamental plant. Bees feeding plant. Edible plant - flower buds raw or cooked, a globe artichoke substitute; the dried flowers are a rennet substitute, used for curdling plant milks; stems cooked and used as a celery substitute; young leaves raw or cooked, eaten as a salad by the ancient Romans, rather bitter; roots cooked like parsnips, tender, thick and fleshy, with an agreeable flavour. Herbal plant - the cardoon has become important as a medicinal herb in recent years following the discovery of cynarin, this bitter-tasting compound, which is found in the leaves, improves liver and gall bladder function, stimulates the secretion of digestive juices, especially bile, and lowers blood cholesterol levels; the leaves are anticholesterolemic, antirheumatic, cholagogue, digestive, diuretic, hypoglycaemic and lithontripic; they are used internally in the treatment of chronic liver and gall bladder diseases, jaundice, hepatitis, arteriosclerosis and the early stages of late-onset diabetes; the leaves are best harvested just before the plant flowers, and can be used fresh or dried. Usable plant - the plant is said to yield a good yellow dye, although the report does not say which part of the plant is used.