542 



BRASSICA 



BRASSICA 



627. Flowers of cabbage. 

 Brassica oleracea. ( X M) 



A. Whole plant glaucous-blue when in fl.: Ivs. of the fl.- 



sts. clasping: fls. various. (Mostly Brassica proper.) 



B. Lvs. from the first more or less fleshy throughout, and 



glaucous-blue even when young: fts. large and creamy 

 yellow, the petals conspicuously long-clawed, and the 

 sepals usually erect. 



1. oleracea, Linn. CABBAGE, CAULIFLOWER, BRUS- 

 SELS SPROUTS, KALE. Fig. 627. Lvs. smooth from the 



first, and the root not 

 tuberous: fls. large and 

 long (%-l in. length, 

 at least often), light- 

 colored, slender - pedi- 

 celled, in long and 

 open racemes: pods 

 large, long-beaked. If 

 the name Brassica ole- 

 racea is held for a 

 generalized group with- 

 out a type form, then 

 the wild plant may be 

 designated as var. syt- 

 veslris, Linn. In the 

 present treatment, 

 however, the wild form 

 is regarded as the type 

 and is therefore not 

 given a varietal name. 

 Brassica oleracea grows 

 wild on the sea-cliffs of 

 W. and S. Eu. Fig. 

 628, from nature, shows 

 the common form as it 

 grows on the chalk 

 cliffs of the English 

 Channel. It is a peren- 

 nial plant of short dura- 

 tion, or perhaps sometimes a biennial, with a very tough 

 and woody root, a diffuse habit, and large thick deep- 

 lobed Ivs. in various shades of green and reddish, and 

 more or less glaucous. The Ivs. of this plant were 

 probably eaten by the barbarous or half-civilized peo- 

 ples; and, when history begins, the plant had been 

 transferred to cult, grounds and had begun to produce 

 dense rosettes or heads of Ivs. It appears to have been 

 in general use before the Aryan migrations to the west- 

 ward. There were several distinct types or races of the 

 cabbage in cult, in Pliny's time. From the one original 

 stock have apparently sprung all the forms of cabbages, 

 cauliflowers, brussels sprouts and kales. For this family 

 or group of plants the English language has no generic 

 name. The French include them all under the term 

 Chou, and the Germans treat them under Kohl. These 

 various tribes may be classified as follows: 



Var. acephala, DC. Fig. 706. The various headless cab- 

 bages, comprising kales or borecoles, in many types and 



varieties, as the tall 

 or tree kales, curled 

 or Scotch kales, 

 and collards. Its 

 likeness may be 

 found wild on the 

 cliffs of the south- 

 eastern coast of 

 England today. The 

 thick, tender Ivs. of 

 the kales are used as 

 "greens." See Col- 

 lards and Kale. It 

 is not certain that 

 all the kales and 

 collards belong 

 here; some of them 

 may be B. campes- 

 tris. 



Var. Cavtlo-Rapa, DC. KOHLRABI (which see). St. 

 tuberous above the roots, the tuber bearing the Ivs. 



Var. gemmifera, DC. The bud-bearing cabbage, or 

 brussels sprouts (see Fig. 

 672) . In this group, the main 

 st. or axis is tall and erect, 

 and axillary buds are devel- 

 oped into little heads. See 

 Brussels sprouts. 



Var. capitata, Linn. The 

 head-bearing, or true cab- 

 bages, kraut of the Germans. 

 In this group, the main axis 

 is short and thick, and the 

 Ivs. are densely packed into 

 a gigantic bud or head (Figs. 

 701-705). The varieties of 

 cabbage are very numerous 

 and various. See Cabbage. 

 A serviceable classification 

 of them might follow this 629. Flowers of rutabaga- 

 order: Brassica campestris. (XJj) 



A. Lvs. plain (not blistered). 



B. Head oblong or conical (Fig. 701). 



c. Green, 

 cc. Red. 

 BB. Head oblate or flattened (Fig. 702), including c and cc, 



as above. 



AA. Lvs. blistered or puckered. The Savoy cabbages, Fig. 703 

 {B. olerdcea var. buUata, DC., or var. sabauda, Linn.), to be 

 further divided, as in A. 



Var. botrytis, Linn. Cauliflower and broccoli, in 

 which the head is formed of the condensed and thick- 

 ened fl.-cluster. Broccoli produces its heads later in the 

 season than cauliflower, and in mild climates it is allowed 

 to remain and make its heads in spring. See Cauliflower. 



2. Napus, Linn. RAPE. Lvs. smooth from the first: 

 differs from B. oleracea chiefly in habit and more deeply 

 scalloped Ivs. There are oil-producing forms (var. 

 oleifera, DC.). The botanical position of the rapes is 

 doubtful. 



3. campestris, Linn. First Ivs. hairy; all Ivs. glaucous 

 and thickish or somewhat fleshy, the lower ones lyrate 

 and toothed, the st.-lvs. cordate-amplexicaul and 





628. Wild cabbage on the cliffs of the 

 English Channel. 



630. Pak-choi. Brassica chinensis. 



acuminate: fls. shorter and also smaller than in the B. 

 oleracea series (Fig. 629). A weed in waste places, in 

 its run-wild form, but rarely persisting long or becom- 

 ing troublesome. There are oil-bearing forms (var. 

 oleifera, DC.). 



Var. Napo-Brassica, DC. (B. oleracea var. A'dpo- 

 Brdssica, Linn.), is the rutabaga evolution of the plant. 

 The rutabaga tuber is either white-fleshed or yellow- 

 fleshed, but the preference in this country seems to be 

 for the yellow kinds. For contrasts with turnips, see 

 No. 4; also Turnip in Vol. VI. 



