Cynara is a genus of about 10 species of thistle-like perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, northwestern Africa, and the Canary Islands.
Among the species in this genus are:
- Cynara cardunculus is the cardoon or artichoke thistle or wild artichoke. The stems of cultivated varieties are used as food around the Mediterranean. It is a common source of a coagulant used as an alternative to rennet in the manufacture of cheese, with the advantage that the cheese is then fully suitable for vegetarians; many southern European cheeses are traditionally made in this way. The edible globe artichoke is usually considered to be an ancient cultigen of this plant. As an introduced species in California, Argentina, and Australia, it is a major pest.
- Cynara humilis is a wild thistle of southern Europe and north Africa, traditionally used as a food by the Berbers. Like C. cardunculus, it can also be used in cheesemaking.
- Cynara scolymus is the edible globe artichoke. It differs from C. cardunculus in that the leaf lobes and inner bracts of involucre are less spiny.
- Cynara cornigera is a very spiny Mediterranean species thriving also in the Greek island of Crete, where it is called agriagginara (αγριαγκινάρα) and its leaves and "heads" are eaten raw (after peeling), boiled, steamed or browned, by the locals. In Greece, it has been used since antiquity for the cure of problems in liver, as stimulant and as an aphrodisiac potion. According to the ancient Greek gastronomer Athenaeus of Naukratis, the leaves of the species can be peeled and eaten raw, but because of their bitter taste, they are better kept in brine.
Cynara species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the angle shades and the double-striped pug.
C. cardunculus is being developed as a new bioenergy crop in the Mediterranean because of its high biomass and seed oil yields even under harsh conditions.