The plant around us. Volume 1 The plant around us. Volume I | Page 30

Brassica Olerace
Latin: Brassica Olerace
Turkish: Lahana
English: Cabbage
Spanish: Repollo
Estonian: Kapsas
Portuguese: Repolho
Albanian: Lakër
Catalan: Col
Leaves: Few (in comparison to
cultivars), fleshy, hairless, lobed,
blue-green leaves. Lower leaves
stalked and fairly large (up to 45 cm
long), with irregular wavy margins.
Brassica oleracea has been cultivated for
at least 2,000 years, possibly much longer,
and a wide variety of forms have been
developed. Although considerably
different in general appearance, cabbage,
kale, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli and
Brussels sprouts are all cultivars of
Brassica oleracea.
Flowers: With four pale yellow
petals and six stamens (two outer
ones shorter than four inner ones).
Borne on flowering stems of 20–40
individual flowers.
Fruits: A short-beaked siliqua (fruit
divided into two cells by a thin
partition) up to 10 cm long, round in
cross-section.
Distribution France, Italy, Spain,
United Kingdom
Ecology Coastal; on seaside cliffs.