Crosne (Chinese), Japanese Artichoke

Also choro-gi (Japanese)

I can answer only the first question with assurance. Crosne is the market name in the United States for the tiny tuberette pictured, which is usually imported from France with that name. But why from France if it is Oriental? Twenty pages of the fascinating history by Paillieux and Bois, Le potager d’un curieux (second edition, 1892), tell all. In brief: These authors, whose plant introductions changed the gardens and farms of Europe, received Stachys rhizomes at the Botanical Garden in Paris in 1882 from an important collector of Chinese plants, Dr. Bretschneider. Paillieux was wildly enthusiastic, rented land near his own garden, and began serious production of the vegetable, a member of the mint family (Labiatae). “Convinced that the words Stachys affinis could not be pronounced by our cooks, I gave the little tubers the name of Crosnes, which is that of my village,” he explains. Voilà! They were officially introduced as Crosnes du Japon (why, when they came from Peking, I cannot say) but crosne later became the usual name.