Here’s a new word to pull out at your next dinner party: Involucre.
No, really . . . give it a try . . . particularly if artichokes are on the menu. Some boring party goer may try to impress, by stating that he knows an artichoke is a type of thistle. But you’ll top his boringness. You’ll be the biggest bore of all. Cuz you know this: An involucre is “one or more whorls of bracts situated below and close to a flower, flower cluster, or fruit.” And that, my fellow heirloom veggie enthusiast, is an artichoke: A particularly large involucre, on a particularly large thistle.
I’ve created a page about heirloom artichokes, and I’d like to introduce you to it. Please take a look!
