228 



CRUCIFER.E. LXXXIII. BRASSICA. 



* * rubra (D. C. 1. c.) leaves red or purple, always particu- 

 larly so in the nerves. Dod. pempt. 621. f. 2. I. Bauh. hist. 

 2. p. 831. f. 1. Lam. diet. 1. p. 743. no. 3, var. and t. 

 Chou a tete ronde rouge, Audib. mss. Chou rouge (Fr.) Red 

 Cabbage, Aberdeen Red Cabbage (Eng.) 



Var. y, obovata (D. C. syst. 2. p. 586.) heads of leaves obo- 

 vate. Chou a tete obovale, Audib, mss. Pentonville Cab- 

 bage ? (Eng.) 



Var. S, elliptica (D. C. syst. 2. p. 586.) heads of leaves ellip- 

 tical. Chou a tete ovale, Chou d'Yorck (Fr.) Early York 



Cabbage, Small Early Dwarf Cabbage (Eng.) 



Var. c, conica (D. C. syst. 2. p. 586.) heads of leaves ovate- 

 conical. Lam. diet. 1. p. 743. no. S, var. $ and t. Chou pain 



de Sucre, Chou Chicon, Chou d'Ambervilliers, Chou de Batter- 

 sea (Fr.) Sugar-loaf Cabbage, Antwerp Cabbage, andBattersea 

 Cabbage (Eng.) 



. 5. Chou rave, or Turnip-stemmed Cabbage. 



5 E. CAU'LO-RA'PA (D. C. syst. 2. p. 586.) stem tumid and 

 somewhat globose at the origin of the leaves. 



Var. a, cbmmums (D. C. syst. 2. p. 586.) leaves plain. 

 Dod. pempt. 625. f. 1. Lob. adv. app. 463. f. 2. Bauh. hist. 

 2. p. 830. f. 1. Chou-rave (Fr.) Cape Cabbage (Eng.) 



* alba (D. C. 1. c.) Chou-rave blanc, Chou-rave commun, 

 Chou de Siam, Kohl riibi (Fr.) Knol, Kohl (Cape.) 



* * purpurdscens (D. C. 1. c.) Chou-rave violet (Fr.) 



Var. ft, crispa (D. C. syst. 2. p. 586.) leaves curled and 

 fringed. Chou-rave crepu (Fr.) Pavonazza (Ital.) 



. 6. Cauliflower and Brocoli. 



6 F. BO'TRYTIS (D. C. syst. 2. p. 586.) peduncles of racemes 

 corymbose, crowded very much before flowering, and very fleshy ; 

 flowers usually abortive. Lob. obs. 125. f. 2. Lam. diet. 1. p. 

 745. no. 4. 



Var. a, cauliflbra (D. C. syst. 2. p. 586.) stem humble ; leaves 

 oblong, of a greyish-glaucous colour ; heads of flower-buds thick, 

 terminal. Dod. pempt. 625. f. 2.- I. Bauh. hist. 2. p. 828 and 



829. f. 1. Lam. diet. 1. p. 745. no. 4. var. a, ft, y. Cavolo- 



Jiore Galliz. bot. agr. p. 191. no. 2, Choufieur (Fr.) Cauli- 

 flower (Eng.) 



Var. ft, asparagoldes (D. C. syst. 2. p. 587.) stem taller 

 than in the Cauliflower ; leaves greyish-glaucous, elongated ; 

 branchlets fleshy, bearing small flower-buds at the top ; flowers 

 abortive. Dalech. lugd. 522. f. 2. Mor. oxon. 2. p. 208. 

 no. ]^. sect. 3. t. 1. f. 11. Lam. diet. 1. p. 745. no. 4. var. 



S, c, and . Cavolo Romano sou Broccoli, Galliz. bot. agr. p. 



191. no. 2 Broccoli (Fr.) Brocoli (Eng.) 



* communis (D. C. 1. c.) heads of flower-buds white.- 



Broccoli commun, Broccoli blanc (Fr.) White Brocoli (Eng.) 

 * * violacea (D. C. 1. c.) heads of flower-buds purple.- 



Broccoli violet, Broccoli de Malte (Fr.) Purple, Red, or Mal- 

 tese Brocoli (Eng.) 



Cult. The varieties of Brdssica oleracea have been cultivated 

 from the earliest period ; they have therefore become numerous, 

 and so distinct from each other, as to occasion a doubt in every 

 beholder's mind whether it were possible that these numerous 

 and distinct varieties could have originally sprung from the Sea 

 Colenort or Wild Cabbage of the Dover Cliffs. Cabbages of 

 some sort, White, in his History of Selbourne, says, must have 

 been known to the Saxons, for they named the month of Febru- 

 ary Sprout-kale. Being a favourite with the Romans it is pro- 

 bable Italian cabbage would be introduced at an early period 

 into South Britain. To the inhabitants of the nortli of Scot- 

 land Cabbages were first made known by the soldiers of Crom- 

 well, when quartered at Inverness (Edin. encycl. art. hort.) 



Having thus botanically traced the variations of Brassica ole- 

 racea from the Sea-Colemort through Borecoles, Savoys, and 

 Cabbages to the Cauliflower and Brocoli, we shall now proceed 

 to give the cultivation and uses of these in the order we have 

 followed above. 



The space occupied by this tribe in most kitchen gardens may 

 be estimated at one-eighth or one-fourth part of the open quar- 

 ters, taking the whole year round, and in cottage-gardens the 

 heading Cabbages and Borecoles generally occupy one-half of 

 the whole space. 



1. Sea Colenort, or Cabbage, or Wild Cabbage. Brdssica 

 oleracea. A. sylveslris, D. C. I. c. 



We have already said that the original Cabbage plant grows 

 naturally on the Dover Clifts and several other parts of the 

 English coast. It is a biennial plant, the stem-leaves are mucli 

 waved and variously indented, the colour is glaucous or sea- 

 green, with occasionally a tinge of purple, arising from the bleak 

 situation in which it usually grows. Early in the spring the 

 Wild Cabbage or Colewort from the sea coast is said to be excel- 

 lent, but it must be boiled in two waters to remove the saltness. 

 The roots may also be eaten but they are not very tender. 



. 2. The Borecole, Winter Greens (Eng.); Chou vert or 

 Chou vert non pomme, Caulet (Fr.); Kale (Sax.) ; Green Kale 

 (Scotch.) ; Brassica oleracea, B. acephala, D. C. This tribe is 

 easily known by the leaves never conniving into a head, but 

 the heart always open and spreading. 



1 THE THOUSAND-HEADED CABBAGE, Chou a mille tetes, Chou 

 Cavalier branchu, Chou Moellier (Fr.) (Brdssica oleracea, B. 

 acephala a rambsa, D. C. 1. c.) grows to the height of 4-feet 

 and upwards, sending out from its main stem branches in the 

 manner of a tree, from the ends and sides of which proceed 

 shoots which appear as actually in growth the whole winter. 

 The leaves are of a pale green, numerous, entire, or pinnatifid, 

 narrower than those of any other green. It is chiefly extolled 

 as an agricultural plant, but may be occasionally planted in 

 gardens, because it will survive the severest frost, and be useful 

 when every other plant of the Cabbage tribe has been destroyed. 

 In flavour it is inferior to winter greens. 



2 Chou Cavalier, Chou en arbre, Chou a chevre, Grand 

 chou vert commun (Fr.) (Brassica oleracea, B. acephala, ft. 

 vulgaris, * viridis, D. C. 1. c.) This shoots up higher than the 

 preceding variety ; its stems remaining nearly single, but they are 

 scarcely distinguishable from each other. This variety is very 

 generally cultivated in the western part of Europe as food for 

 cattle, and sometimes as a garden vegetable. It grows some- 

 times 5 feet high ; this may be attributed to the stripping off the 

 lower leaves to give them to cattle, as well as from being usually 

 planted in rich soil. 



3 OAK-LEAVED BORECOLE, Chouafeuilles de chene (Fr.) This 

 comes near to the next variety. The lobes of the leaves are deep, 

 broad, and entire, or nearly so, and uniformly of a pale-green. 

 This variety is not generally cultivated. Perhaps the Chou de 

 Milan, p. 231. is a variety of this plant. 



4 GREEN BORECOLE, SCOTCH KALE, SIBERIAN BORECOLE 

 (Eng.) Chou vert /rise, Chou /range du Nord, Chou frise 

 non pomme (Fr.) (Brdssica oleracea, B. acephala, var. y, 

 Sabellica, D. C. I. c.) There are several sub-varieties under 

 this head. The leaves are of a bright light green deeply lobed, 

 and not very wide, curled on the edges, slightly wrinkled on 

 the upper surface, with veins of a greenish-white colour. The 

 margins of the leaves are plaited so closely as to widen so 

 as to measure three times as much as if the plaits were not ex- 

 tended. The younger leaves in consequence look completely 



