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Brassica oleracea
Also called Wild Mustard, Wild Cabbage, Kale, Chou Mollier, Haria, Kohlrabi, Marrow Stem Kale
Brassica oleracea is the wild cabbage species from which many familiar vegetables were bred, including cabbage, broccoli, kale, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts. Grow it in full sun in fertile, well-drained, slightly alkaline soil with good air movement.
Brassica oleracea, also known as wild cabbage in its uncultivated form, is a plant of the family Brassicaceae.
The species originated from feral populations of related plants in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it was most likely first cultivated. It has many common cultivars that are used as culinary vegetables, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, romanesco, kale, Brussels sprout, collard, Savoy cabbage, kohlrabi, and gai lan.
The species has become established as an important human food crop, used because of its large food reserves, which are stored over the winter in its leaves. It has been bred into a wide range of cultivars, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, collards, and kale, some of which are hardly recognizable as being members of the same genus, let alone species. The historical genus of Crucifera, meaning "cross-bearing" in reference to the four-petaled flowers, may be the only unifying feature beyond taste.
The plant is tolerant of a variety of soil conditions between pH 6.0 and 7.5, but grows particularly well in alkaline soils in full sunlight, with good drainage and high amounts of nitrogen. The plant can grow in partial shade, but care must be taken to provide sufficient ventilation, as this reduces the prevalence of downy mildew.
Wild cabbage is considered to be native only to the coasts of France, Great Britain, and Spain, although widely naturalized elsewhere. Although rarely abundant, wild cabbage is also found on the coasts of Ireland, Italy, and the German island of Heligoland.
Abyssinian mustard · Mustard · Zha cai · India mustard · Rutabaga · Rapeseed · Tatsoi · Rhamphospermum nigrum · Gai lan · Cauliflower · Cabbage · Brussels sprout
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Brassica oleracea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
