Addendum: for anyone unfamiliar with this vegetable, it has the relationship to a true artichoke that a motorcycle has to a panda. It got the name as a corruption of the Italian word for it: "girasole".
The edible part is the tuberous root, which is starchy and for people with certain food allergies, is a good substitute for potato. It is, however, gnarly, looks a bit like a ginger root, and requires a bit of fiddlng to prepare. My experience also is that it doesn't keep particularly well in the fridge, or elsewhere. So must be prepared fairly fresh.
But is a pretty nice edible, aside from those issues.
caw