botany of Cole Plants 93 



AA. Plant green or essentially so, slightly or not glaucous, the foliage 

 thin and often sparsely setose-hairy on the ribs; stem leaves vari- 

 ous: flowers small m in. or less long), bright yellow or sulfur- 

 yellow, the petals less prominently clawed, sepals separating or 

 spreading. 



B. Stem leaves clasping or the petiole with a broadly expanded 

 base.— TURNIP. 



4. B. Rapa. 

 BB. Stem leaves petioled or sessile. — MUSTARDS. 

 C. Pod glabrous (not -hairy). 



D. The ripe pods long, spreading away from the stem. 

 E. Leaves more or less lobed or notched, but not 

 deeply cut. 



Radical and lower blades tapering to winged mid- 

 rib. 5. B. pekinensis. 

 Radical and lower stem leaves distinctly peti- 

 oled. 6. B. rugosa. 

 EE. Leaves deeply cut. 7. B. japonica. 

 DD. The ripe pods short, closely appressed to the stem. 



8. B. nigra, 

 CC. Pod hairy. 9. B. alba. 



1. B. oleracea, Linn. Sp. PI. 667. Glaucous perennial with 

 woody and often branching stem 2 to 5 ft. tall, native on the 

 sea-cliffs and shores of western Europe: Ivs. thick, large, % 

 to 2 ft. long, obovate or oblong in general outline, often with 

 several small lobes along the petiole, the margins irregularly 

 lobed or sinuate, often obscurely dentate, and usually more 

 or less undulate and crisped: flowers large (% to 1 in. long) 

 in an elongated panicle, whitish yellow : pod 3 to 4 in. long, 

 % in. across at maturity, with a conical beak % to % in. 

 long, the valves with a strong central rib. — As B. oleracea 

 itself is not cultivated, and apparently not eaten in the wild 

 state, a full description is not necessary here. In the wild it 

 gives little suggestion of the cabbages, brussels sprouts and 

 cauliflowers, although it is much like some of the kales. Under 

 -domestication this species has produced a multitude of forms, 

 some of the main races of which may be described. 



Var. ramosa, Alef. Landw. Fl. 234. 1866. Teee Cabbage 

 or Teee Kale. Thousand-headed Kale. Stem erect, 3 to 6 ft. 

 or even more, woody at the base, more or less branched above, 

 the leaves scattered rather than in a terminal clump or rosette. 

 — Grown mostly in Europe, and chiefly for cattle forage. 



