Native to the area of North Africa and Southern Europe. It belongs to the Compositae family and to the genus Cynara.
Plant vivacious, biannual and trianual, with erect, thick and branched stems, extraordinarily powerful root system, long leaves, pubescent and large, thick terminal flowers, surrounded by membranous scales at the base constituting the edible part and the fruit is an achene form oblong and grayish.
The Mediterranean zone produces the majority of world production.
