Jesse Saylor
Family
Asteraceae
Botanical Name
Helianthus tuberosus
Plant Common Name
Jerusalem Artichoke, Sunchoke
General Description
Whether grown for its beautiful sunflowers or edible tubers, Jerusalem artichoke is a great garden plant with a lot of utility. This tall perennial is native to much of North America—from Canada down to northern Florida. In the wild, it favors open meadows, old fields, thickets and roadsides. The plants spread by rhizomes to form very large clumps. Its crisp, flavorful tubers were an essential food for many Native American tribespeople. This species has been introduced and become naturalized in temperate regions worldwide.
The tall plants have broad, lance-shaped leaves that are flat and dark green. These are scratchy to the touch and opposite to one another. The tall, central stems are either green or purplish red. Flowering occurs late in the season, typically from late summer to fall. The bright golden yellow daisies attract bees and butterflies and finches flock to the dry seedheads that follow.
The bulbous, edible tubers are produced just below the rhizomes. There are a number of different cultivars with tubers of different colors, shapes and sizes, but typically they have tan skin, are bulbous with multiple round protrusions and have dense, crisp, white interiors. Instead of starch, the tubers contain inulin, another plant carbohydrate that tastes somewhat starchy. The tubers don’t begin to form until late summer, so they cannot be harvested until after the first frost. The spent plant tops should be removed and the tubers gently dug with a digging fork. The tubers are relatively small, so they need to be hand picked. Healthy tubers will store for a few months if kept in a cool, dark place. Don’t let them get too dry.
Full to partial sun is required for good health and flowering. This tough, adaptable plant will tolerate a wide variety of well-drained soil types but produces the best tubers in friable loam. The small to medium-sized flower heads can be quite heavy and cause the tall plants to fall over, so staking may be required. This fast-growing perennial can be grown from seed but cultivars are usually sold as tuber stock, like potatoes. The cold hardy tubers should be planted in spring and are ready for harvest in 90 to 120 days, depending on the variety. One of the most readily available American cultivars is ‘Stampede’, which produces lots of white tubers earlier than wild-type plants.
The tubers can be eaten fresh or cooked. If eaten fresh they are crunchy and sweet with a flavor much like that of an artichoke. In recipes they are typically cooked like potatoes. It is easy to overcook Jerusalem artichokes. The result is a mushy, unpalatable mess, so be it is essential to be exacting with cooking time when preparing them.
The common name of Jerusalem artichoke does not make reference to the Middle Eastern city, but is a phonetic corruption of the Italian word for sunflower: "girasole."
