OUR COMMON VEGETABLES. 



119 



one kind of this prolification the excrescences take the form of 

 funnels at the extremities of the ribs. De Candolle, in his paper 

 on the Cabbage, describes and figures it as B. costata nepenthi- 

 formisJ* A few years ago nearly every plant in a bed in the 

 garden of Sir J. B. Lawes at Rothampstead was characterised 

 by this peculiarity. 



The Colc-rabi (or Kohl-rabi), Brassica oleracea caulorapa, 

 is remarkable for its swollen stem. It appears to have been 

 introduced into Germany from Italy about 1558, and into Tripoli 

 about 1574. It was known to Gerarde (1597), but it is not clear 

 whether it was known to Pliny. His description of the " Corin- 

 thian " Turnip seems to agree with it, of which he says : " The 

 root is all but out of the ground ; indeed this is the only kind 

 that, in growing, shoots upwards, and not as the others do, 

 downwards into the ground. "t It is a common food in Malta. 



The Brussels Sprouts. — These were commonly grown in 

 Belgium in 1820, and also in French gardens, but not generally 

 known in England before 1850. 



The Broccoli. — The earliest notice of this variety appears to be 

 in Miller's Dictionary, 1724, where it is called the " Sprout Colli- 

 flower." It seems to have originated in Italy. Being sown in 

 September there, as in Malta, it is cut in April or May. 



The Cauliflower was earlier known, being mentioned by Dodo- 

 naeus 1553 or 1559, and figured by Gerarde, 1597, though it was 

 rare in Parkinson's time, 1629. The form is due to a partial 

 suppression of the floral organs, accompanied by a great develop- 

 ment of the pedicels, similar to the Feather Hyacinth, Belle- 

 valia comosa. The following description of its origin is by 

 M. Vilmorin : — 



" The Sprouting or Asparagus Broccoli represents the first 

 form exhibited by the new vegetable when it ceased to be the 

 earliest Cabbage, and was grown with an especial view to its 

 shoots. After this, by continued selection and successive im- 

 provements, varieties were obtained which produced a compact 

 white head, and some of these varieties were still further improved 

 into kinds which are sufficiently early to commence and complete 

 their rustic growth in the course of the same year. These last- 

 named kinds are now known by the name of Cauliflower. "i 



* Trans. Hort. Soc. v. p. 1. t Nat. Hist. Bk. xix. c. 25. 



X Vilmorin, The Vegetable Garden, 1885, p. 95. 



E 



