hatichu :
Morphology:
This vegetable grows to 1.4–2 m (4.6–6.6 ft) tall, with arching, deeply lobed, silvery, glaucous-green leaves 50–82 cm (20–32 in) long. The flowers develop in a large head from an edible bud about 8–15 cm (3–6 in) diameter with numerous triangular scales; the individual florets are purple. The edible portions of the buds consist primarily of the fleshy lower portions of the involucral bracts and the base, known as the "heart"; the mass of immature florets in the center of the bud is called the "choke" or beard. These are inedible in older, larger flowers.
Histology:
The mesophyll presents disorganized spongy and palisade parenchyma with large intercellular spaces and a few small chloroplasts in the leaves of plants cultured in vitro. In addition, both epidermal surfaces of such leaves invariably show a cell wall of the same thickness with a very thin cuticle and open stomata. In the root differentiation stage in vitro, structural changes take place in the leaves that are favorable for survival in the acclimatization stage: conspicuous cuticle, greater cell wall thickness, functional stomata, better mesophyll organization, developed vascular bundles, and the presence of sclerenchymatous tissue are observed.
