Brassica oleracea
Encyclopedia
Brassica oleracea, or wild cabbage, is a species of Brassica
native to coastal southern and western Europe
, where its tolerance of salt
and lime
and its intolerance of competition from other plants typically restrict its natural occurrence to limestone
sea
cliff
s, like the chalk cliffs on both sides of the English Channel
.
Wild B. oleracea is a tall biennial plant
, forming a stout rosette of large leaves
in the first year, the leaves being fleshier and thicker than those of other species of Brassica, adaptations to store water and nutrients in its difficult growing environment. In its second year, the stored nutrients are used to produce a flower
spike 1 to 2 m (3.3 to 6.6 ft) tall bearing numerous yellow flowers.
plant, used because of its large food reserves, which are stored over the winter in its leaves. It is rich in essential nutrients including vitamin C
. Although it is believed to have been cultivated for several thousand years, its history as a domesticated plant is not clear before Greek
and Roman
times, when it was a well-established garden vegetable. Theophrastus
mentions three kinds of rhaphanos (ῤάφανος): a curly-leaved, a smooth-leaved, and a wild-type. He reports the antipathy of the cabbage and the grape-vine, for the ancients believed that cabbages grown near grapes would impart their flavour to the wine. It has been bred into a wide range of cultivar
s, including cabbage
, broccoli
, cauliflower
, and more, some of which are hardly recognisable as being members of the same genus, let alone species. The historical genus of Crucifera
, meaning four-petalled flower, may be the only uniting feature beyond taste.
theory, B. oleracea is very closely related to five other species of the genus Brassica
.
The cultivars of B. oleracea are grouped by developmental form into seven major cultivar group
s, of which the Acephala ("non-heading") group remains most like the natural Wild Cabbage in appearance:
For other edible plants in the family Brassicaceae, see cruciferous vegetables
.
In places such as the Channel Islands
and Canary Islands
where the frost is minimal and plants are thus freed from seasonality, some cultivars can grow up to 3 meters tall. These "tree cabbages" yield fresh leaves throughout the year, and harvest does not mean the plant needs to be destroyed as with a normal cabbage. Their woody stalks are sometimes dried and made into walking sticks.
Some (notably brussels sprouts and broccoli) contain high levels of sinigrin
which may help prevent bowel cancer
.
Brassica
Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family . The members of the genus may be collectively known either as cabbages, or as mustards...
native to coastal southern and western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, where its tolerance of salt
Sodium chloride
Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...
and lime
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...
and its intolerance of competition from other plants typically restrict its natural occurrence to limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
s, like the chalk cliffs on both sides of the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
Wild B. oleracea is a tall biennial plant
Biennial plant
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...
, forming a stout rosette of large leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
in the first year, the leaves being fleshier and thicker than those of other species of Brassica, adaptations to store water and nutrients in its difficult growing environment. In its second year, the stored nutrients are used to produce a flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
spike 1 to 2 m (3.3 to 6.6 ft) tall bearing numerous yellow flowers.
Cultivation and uses
B. oleracea has become established as an important human food cropAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
plant, used because of its large food reserves, which are stored over the winter in its leaves. It is rich in essential nutrients including vitamin C
Vitamin C
Vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid or L-ascorbate is an essential nutrient for humans and certain other animal species. In living organisms ascorbate acts as an antioxidant by protecting the body against oxidative stress...
. Although it is believed to have been cultivated for several thousand years, its history as a domesticated plant is not clear before Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times, when it was a well-established garden vegetable. Theophrastus
Theophrastus
Theophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
mentions three kinds of rhaphanos (ῤάφανος): a curly-leaved, a smooth-leaved, and a wild-type. He reports the antipathy of the cabbage and the grape-vine, for the ancients believed that cabbages grown near grapes would impart their flavour to the wine. It has been bred into a wide range of cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s, including cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
, broccoli
Broccoli
Broccoli is a plant in the cabbage family, whose large flower head is used as a vegetable.-General:The word broccoli, from the Italian plural of , refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage"....
, cauliflower
Cauliflower
Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed...
, and more, some of which are hardly recognisable as being members of the same genus, let alone species. The historical genus of Crucifera
Cruciferous vegetables
Vegetables of the family Brassicaceae are called cruciferous vegetables. The vegetables are widely cultivated, with many genera, species, and cultivars being raised for food production such as cauliflower, cabbage, cress, bok choy, broccoli and similar green leaf vegetables...
, meaning four-petalled flower, may be the only uniting feature beyond taste.
Origins
According to the Triangle of UTriangle of U
The Triangle of U is a theory about the evolution and relationships between members of the plant genus Brassica. The theory states that the genomes of three ancestral species of Brassica combined to create three of the common contemporary vegetables and oilseed crop species...
theory, B. oleracea is very closely related to five other species of the genus Brassica
Brassica
Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family . The members of the genus may be collectively known either as cabbages, or as mustards...
.
The cultivars of B. oleracea are grouped by developmental form into seven major cultivar group
Cultivar group
In naming cultivated plants, a Group is a formal classification category, under the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants :The term "Group" was introduced in the 2004 ICNCP, replacing the "Cultivar-group" of the 1995 ICNCP.A Group is united by some common trait; for example...
s, of which the Acephala ("non-heading") group remains most like the natural Wild Cabbage in appearance:
- Brassica oleracea Acephala GroupAcephala GroupThe Acephala Group is a cultivar group for the species Brassica oleracea. It includes the following:* kale* collard greens* spring greens...
– kaleKaleKale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane , a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties. Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming,...
and collard greensCollard greensCollard greens are various loose-leafed cultivars of Brassica oleracea , the same species as cabbage and broccoli. The plant is grown for its large, dark-colored, edible leaves and as a garden ornamental, mainly in Brazil, Portugal, the southern United States, many parts of Africa, Montenegro,... - Brassica oleracea Alboglabra Group – Chinese broccoliKai-lanKai-lan, also known as Chinese broccoli, is a leaf vegetable featuring thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems and a small number of tiny, almost vestigial flower heads similar to those of broccoli. Broccoli and kai-lan belong to the same species Brassica oleracea, but kai-lan is in...
- Brassica oleracea Botrytis Group – cauliflowerCauliflowerCauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed...
, Romanesco broccoliRomanesco broccoliRomanesco broccoli, or Roman cauliflower, is an edible flower of the species Brassica oleracea, and a variant form of cauliflower.-History:Romanesco broccoli was first documented in Italy in the sixteenth century...
and broccoflowerBroccoflowerBroccoflower refers to either of two edible plants of the species Brassica oleracea with light green heads. The edible portion is the immature flower head of the plant.... - Brassica oleracea Capitata Group – cabbageCabbageCabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
- Brassica oleracea Gemmifera Group – brussels sproutBrussels sproutThe Brussels sprout is a cultivar of wild cabbage grown for its edible buds. The leafy green vegetables are typically 2.5–4 cm in diameter and look like miniature cabbages. The sprout is Brassica oleracea, in the "gemmifera" group of the family Brassicaceae...
s - Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group – kohlrabi
- Brassica oleracea Italica Group – broccoliBroccoliBroccoli is a plant in the cabbage family, whose large flower head is used as a vegetable.-General:The word broccoli, from the Italian plural of , refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage"....
For other edible plants in the family Brassicaceae, see cruciferous vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables
Vegetables of the family Brassicaceae are called cruciferous vegetables. The vegetables are widely cultivated, with many genera, species, and cultivars being raised for food production such as cauliflower, cabbage, cress, bok choy, broccoli and similar green leaf vegetables...
.
In places such as the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
and Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
where the frost is minimal and plants are thus freed from seasonality, some cultivars can grow up to 3 meters tall. These "tree cabbages" yield fresh leaves throughout the year, and harvest does not mean the plant needs to be destroyed as with a normal cabbage. Their woody stalks are sometimes dried and made into walking sticks.
Some (notably brussels sprouts and broccoli) contain high levels of sinigrin
Sinigrin
Sinigrin is a glucosinolate that belongs to the family of glucosides found in some plants of the Brassicaceae family such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and the seeds of black mustard to name but a few...
which may help prevent bowel cancer
Colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....
.