What Are Plants That Produce Flowers And What Flowers Do We Usually Eat Without Knowing?

Perhaps you have never stopped to look at the flowers of the plants we eat: in some cases they are real works of art. Partly distraction, but partly causality, because in many cases the flowers are cut, precisely to provide nourishment to the roots or leaves, or we eat them directly, as in the case of capers. Here is a roundup of beautiful flowers with the plants they belong to: they are the flowers of the plants we eat.

1. Artichokes

Not everyone knows that what we eat from the artichoke is precisely its flower: the basal part of these inflorescences is fleshy and surrounded by purple and green bracts. From this base, then, the actual flowers are born, those that are called "beard" and that we all appreciate.

2. Agave

Used primarily to produce the natural sweetener known as syrup , the agave plant is actually used for many different purposes, including the production of mezcal and tequila. But did you know that this plant has a beautiful flower? This is a very rare "phenomenon", in fact only when the plant reaches full maturity, after 5 years, does it begin to flower: but it could also do so after 50 years.

3. Capers

Also in this case we know the flowers of this plant because we already eat them: they are capers, which have not yet blossomed. The harvest, in fact, takes place at the first light of dawn: once they have blossomed, of course, they can no longer be eaten. Not to be confused with cucunci, much loved in Sicilian cuisine, which are instead the fruits of the plant.

4. Ginger

Ginger is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family: what we eat is its rhizome, a root with infinite beneficial properties that can be used in many ways even in the kitchen. But not everyone knows that ginger is able to produce a beautiful, fleshy and strong flower: with bright colors, it peeps out at the end of summer. The bad news, however, is that ginger, if used as food, is deprived of its flowers: these would accumulate too many nutrients, taking them away from the root, which would thus be devoid of flavor and benefits.

5. Saffron

The saffron flower is a fundamental part: it is from there that the pistils start, which are dried and transformed into the very expensive reddish spice. The powder we know, in fact, is obtained from the stigmas of the Crocus sativus flower, belonging to the Iridaceae family, a perennial herbaceous plant, which grows spontaneously in Asia Minor and Eastern Europe, but which is also successfully cultivated in Italy, especially in Abruzzo but not only.