sturtevant's notes on edible plants 105 



Rutabaga. 

 The rutabaga of the Swedes, the navet de Suede, or chou de Suede, or chou rutabaga, 

 or chou navet jaune, of the French was introduced into England somewhere about the end 

 of the eighteenth century. In the Maine Farmer of May 15, 1835/ a correspondent, 

 John Burstoti, states that the rutabaga, Swedish turnip, or Lapland turnip for by all 

 these names was it known was introduced to this country since the commencement 

 of the present century. Six or more varieties are named in all seed catalogs and B-urr 2 

 describes 11 kinds. 



The rutabagas of our gardens include two forms, one with white flesh, the other with 

 yellow. The French call these two classes chou-navets and rutabagas respectively. The 

 chou-navet, or Brassica napo-brassica communis DC, has either purple or white roots; 

 the rutabaga, or B. napo-brassica Ruta-baga A. P. DC, has a more regular root, round 

 or oval, yellow both without and within.' In English nomenclature, while now the two 

 forms are called by a common name, yet formerly the first constituted the turnip-rooted 

 cabbage. In 1806, the distinction was retained in the United States, McMahon ^ 

 describing the turnip-rooted cabbage and the Swedish turnip, or Rutabaga. As a matter 

 of convenience we shall describe these two classes separately. 



The first description of the white-rooted form is by Bauhin ' in his Prodromus, 1620, 

 and it is named again in his Pinax,^ 1623, and is called napo-brassica. In 1686, Ray ' 

 apparently did not know it in England, as he quotes Bauhin's name and description, which 

 states that it is ctiltivated in Bohemia and is eaten, but Morison,* in 1669, catalogs it 

 among the plants in the royal gardens. In France, it is named by Tournefort,' in 1700, 

 Brassica radice napiformi, or chou-navet. In 1.778, this was called in England turnip- 

 cabbage with the turnip underground and in the United States, in 1806, turnip-rooted 

 cabbage, as noted above. There are three varieties described by Vilmorin " under the 

 names chou-navet, chou turnip, and chou de Lapland, one of which is purple at the collar; 

 apparently these same varieties are named by Noisette " in 1829. The white and the red- 

 collared were named by Pirolle,'^ in 1824. This class, as Don " says in 183 1, is Httle known 

 in English gardens, though not uncommon in French horticulture. 



The rutabaga is said by Sinclair, in the account of the system of husbandry in Scot- 

 land, to have been introduced into Scotland about 178 1-2, and a quotation in the Gar- 



' Me. Farm. May 15, 1835. 



Burr, F. Field, Card. Veg. 86. 1863. 



De Candolle, A. P. Trans. Hort. Soc. Lond. 5:25. 1824. 



McMahon Amer. Card. Cat. 309. 1806. 

 'Bauhin, C. Prodromus 54. 1671. 

 Bauhin, C. Pin. 3:1623. 



T Ray Hist. PI. 797. 1686. 



Morison Hort. Reg. Bles. 31. 1669. 



Tournef ort Inst. 219. 1 7 1 9. 



"> Vilmorin Le5 Pis. Polag. 142. 1883. 

 " Noisette Man. Jard. 349. 1829. 

 '^VkoWe L'Hort. Franc. 1S24. 

 Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 1:241. 1831. 



