One of my son’s parent-tot drop-in facilitators (I love these women) gave me some baby Sunchokes yesterday:

Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of the Sunchoke aka Jerusalem artichoke aka Helianthus tuberosus.

The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called the sunroot or sunchoke or topinambur, is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America, from Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas. It is also cultivated widely across the temperate world for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable.

Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to Jerusalem, and it is not a type of artichoke, though they are in the same family. The name Jerusalem is due to folk etymology; when the Jerusalem artichoke was first discovered by Europeans it was called Girasole, the Italian word for sunflower. The Jerusalem artichoke is a type of sunflower, in the same genus as the garden sunflower Helianthus annuus. Over time the name Girasole transformed into Jerusalem, and to avoid confusion some people have recently started to refer to it as sunchoke or sunroot, which is closer to the original Native American name for the plant.

The artichoke part of the Jerusalem artichoke’s name comes from the taste of its edible tuber. Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer, sent the first samples of the plant to France, noting that its taste was similar to an artichoke. ^{(wiki source)}

More info on growing Sunchokes. Mine are just hanging out in the laundry room until they are ready for planting  I have to think seriously about where to plant them. Not invasive but ineradicable, they will have found a forever home in my garden.