36 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF OUR GARDEN VEGETABLES. 



In the ninth figure of ' Cole Florie, ' changed to-day into ' Cauli- 

 flower, ' there is a very small group of little clusters of flower buds 

 embedded in a large mass of foliage; in fact it occupies less than tEe 

 twentieth part of it. If this represents the earliest form of the large 

 cauliflowers we have now it is not surprising that Pliny knew nothing 

 about it. (Fig. 16.) 



Great changes have taken place in the shape of the leaves. In 

 the wild form Hooker describes the leaf of the plant as " obovate, 

 lobed, and sinuate." There is a terminal, the largest, lobe, and from 

 one to four pairs of much smaller ones below. To the enormous 

 expansion of the uppermost lobe cabbages are due. " Sinuate " means 

 having a "wavy" margin; in this one sees the origin of all the 

 " crisped " forms, due to an immense increase, by hypertrophy, of the 

 minute interspaces between the tips of the veins. 



Co/if Flone 



FIG. 16. EARLY FORM OF CAULIFLOWER (GERARD, 1597). 



Hooker classes the cultivated forms under the following heads : 

 Acephala, i.e., headless, the Scotch kale, cow cabbage, and borecole; 

 Bullata and Gemmifera, Savoys and Brussels sprouts; Capitata, the 

 red and white cabbages; Caulompa, the kohl-rabi ; Botrytis, the 

 cauliflower and broccoli* 



Eeturning to Gerard's figures and comparing No. 1 with the wild 

 plant, No. 15, the only difference we can see is that the lower part of 

 the stem has retained its leaves, instead of becoming bare. This is the 

 first result of cultivation and the beginning of some of the kales. The 

 best modern form of this is seen in Sutton's magnificent ' Al 'kale; 

 there is the crown of leaves at the summit, but the whole stem below 

 is densely covered with leaves, the entire foliage being thoroughly 

 crisped. The description is that of " curled sprouts," Though many 



