Artichoke - Vegetable or Flower?

[Mike_N_Ike]

Can somebody settle this for me..we've been arguing about it all day. I tried to google it but most of the sites that it returns are blocked so I can't read them.

Thanks :)

[Kevster]

From Merriam Webster:

Main Entry: ar·ti·choke
Pronunciation: 'är-t&-"chOk
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian dialect articiocco, ultimately from Arabic al-khurshuf the artichoke
1 : a tall composite herb (Cynara scolymus) like a thistle with coarse pinnately incised leaves; also : its edible immature flower head which is cooked as a vegetable

So it's an edible flower.

[zippyjuan]

The real question about them is who was the first person who tried to eat one ever? "Hmm... I think I will try to see if there is anything good hiding in this big prickly thing." Did they have butter back then?

[BrewMaster]

i don't think those categories are mutually exclusive.

[tupacboy]

flower...