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Mustard Family
Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The leaves are simple (although are sometimes deeply incised), lack stipules, and appear alternately on stems or in rosettes. The inflorescences are terminal and lack bracts. The flowers have four free sepals, four free alternating petals, two shorter free stamens and four longer free stamens. The fruit has seeds in rows, divided by a thin wall (or septum). The family contains 372 genera and 4,060 accepted species. The largest genera are ''Draba'' (440 species), ''Erysimum'' (261 species), ''Lepidium'' (234 species), ''Cardamine'' (233 species), and ''Alyssum'' (207 species). The family contains the cruciferous vegetables, including species such as ''Brassica oleracea'' (cultivated as cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli and collards), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbarea Vulgaris
''Barbarea vulgaris'', also called wintercress (usual common name), or alternatively herb barbara, rocketcress, yellow rocketcress, winter rocket, yellow rocket, and wound rocket, is a biennial herb of the genus ''Barbarea'', belonging to the family Brassicaceae. Description This plant grows to about high, with a maximum of . The stem is ribbed and hairless, branched at the base. It has basal rosettes of shiny, dark green leaves. The basal leaves are stalked and lyre-pinnatifid, that is with a large terminal lobe and smaller lower lobes. The cauline leaves are smaller, ovate, toothed, or lobed. The flowers are borne in spring in dense terminal clusters above the foliage. They are long, with four bright yellow petals. The flowering period extends from about April through July. The fruit is a pod around . Chemical substances in this species include saponins, flavonoids, and glucosinolates. Taxonomy Formally, ''B. vulgaris'' was first published and described by William Aito ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brassica Rapa
''Brassica rapa'' is a plant species growing in various widely cultivated forms including the turnip (a root vegetable); napa cabbage, bomdong, bok choy, and rapini. ''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''oleifera'' is an oilseed which has many common names, including rape, field mustard, bird's rape, and keblock. The term rapeseed oil is a general term for oil from ''Brassica'' species. Food grade oil made from the seed is also called canola oil, while non-food oil is called colza oil. Canola oil is sourced three species of Brassica plants: ''Brassica rapa'' and ''Brassica napus'' are commonly grown in Canada, while ''Brassica juncea'' (brown mustard) is a minor crop for oil production. History The origin of ''B. rapa'', both geographically and any surviving wild relatives, has been difficult to identify because it has been developed by humans into many types of vegetables, is now found in most parts of the world, and has returned to the wild many times as a feral plant. A study of g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Collards
Collard is a group of certain loose-leafed cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', the same species as many common vegetables including cabbage (Capitata group) and broccoli (Italica group). Collard is a member of the Viridis group of ''Brassica oleracea''. American collard cultivars are more correctly placed in the Viridis cultivar, cultivar group due to a high genetic similarity with cabbage, although older publications often include them within the Acephala group (kale). The name "collard" comes from the word "colewort" (a medieval term for non-heading brassica crops). The plants are grown as a food crop for their large, dark-green, greens (vegetable), edible leaves, which are cooked and eaten as vegetables, mainly in Zambia, Kashmir, Brazil, Portugal, Zimbabwe, South Africa, the American South, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, the Balkans, and northern Spain. Collard greens have been eaten for at least 2,000 years, with evidence showing that the ancient Greeks cultivated several types o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broccoli
Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species ''Brassica oleracea''. Broccoli has large flower heads, usually dark green, arranged in a tree-like structure branching out from a thick stalk which is usually light green. The mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli resembles cauliflower, which is a different but closely related cultivar group of the same ''Brassica'' species. It is eaten either raw or cooked. Broccoli is a particularly rich source of vitamin C and vitamin K. Contents of its characteristic sulfur-containing glucosinolate compounds, isothiocyanates and sulforaphane, are diminished by boiling but are better preserved by steaming, microwaving or stir-frying. Rapini, sometimes called "broccoli rabe," i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cauliflower
Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus ''Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – the edible white flesh sometimes called "curd" (with a similar appearance to cheese curd). The cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem. Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having flower buds as the edible portion. ''Brassica oleracea'' also includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, and kale, collectively called "cole" crops, though they are of different cultivar groups. History Pliny the Elder included ''cyma'' among cultivated plants he described in '' Natural History'': "''Ex omnibus brassicae generibus suavissima est cyma,''" ("Of all the varieties of cabbage the most pleasant-tasted is ''cyma''"). Pliny's description likely refers to the flowering heads of an earli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kale
Kale (), or leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') cultivars grown for their edible leaves, although some are used as ornamentals. Kale plants have green or purple leaves, and the central leaves do not form a head (as with headed cabbage). Kales are considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most of the many domesticated forms of ''Brassica oleracea''. Etymology ''Kale'' originates from Northern Middle English ''cale'' (compare Scots ''kail'' and German ''Kohl'') for various cabbages. The ultimate origin is Latin ''caulis'' 'cabbage'. History Kale originated in the eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia, where it was cultivated for food beginning by 2000 BCE at the latest. Curly-leaved varieties of cabbage already existed along with flat-leaved varieties in Greece in the 4th century BC. These forms, which were referred to by the Romans as Sabellian kale, are considered to be the ancestors of modern kales. The earliest record of cabbages in w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B. oleracea'' var. ''oleracea''), and belongs to the "cole crops" or brassicas, meaning it is closely related to broccoli and cauliflower (var. ''botrytis''); Brussels sprouts (var. ''gemmifera''); and Savoy cabbage (var. ''sabauda''). A cabbage generally weighs between . Smooth-leafed, firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed purple cabbages and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colours being rarer. Under conditions of long sunny days, such as those found at high northern latitudes in summer, cabbages can grow quite large. , the heaviest cabbage was . Cabbage heads are generally picked during the first year of the plant's life cycle, but plants intended for seed are allowed to grow a second year and must be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brassica Oleracea
''Brassica oleracea'' is a plant species from family Brassicaceae that includes many common cultivars used as vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, Savoy cabbage, kohlrabi, and gai lan. Its uncultivated form, wild cabbage, native to coastal southern and western Europe, is a hardy plant with high tolerance for salt and lime. However, its intolerance of competition from other plants typically restrict its natural occurrence to limestone sea cliffs, like the chalk cliffs on both sides of the English Channel. Wild ''B. oleracea'' is a tall biennial plant that forms a stout rosette of large leaves in the first year. The leaves are fleshier and thicker than other ''Brassica'' species—an adaptation that helps it store water and nutrients in its difficult growing environment. In its second year, it uses the stored nutrients to produce a flower spike tall with numerous yellow flowers. A 2021 study suggested that the Eastern Medite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables of the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) with many genera, species, and cultivars being raised for food production such as cauliflower, cabbage, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard plant and similar green leaf vegetables. The family takes its alternative name (Cruciferae, New Latin for "cross-bearing") from the shape of their flowers, whose four petals resemble a cross. Ten of the most common cruciferous vegetables eaten by people, known colloquially in North America as cole crops and in the UK, Ireland and Australia as brassicas, are in a single species (''Brassica oleracea''); they are not distinguished from one another Taxonomy (biology), taxonomically, only by horticultural category of cultivar groups. Numerous other genus, genera and species in the family are also edible. Cruciferous vegetables are one of the dominant food crops worldwide. They are high in vitamin C and dietary fiber, soluble fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alyssum
''Alyssum'' is a genus of over a hundred species of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. The genus comprises annual plant, annual and perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plants or (rarely) small shrubs, growing to 10–100 cm tall, with oblong-oval leaves. Alyssum flowers are characteristically small and grouped in terminal clusters; they are often yellow or white colored but can be pink or purple. The genera ''Lobularia (plant), Lobularia'', ''Aurinia'' and ''Odontarrhena'' are closely related to ''Alyssum'' and were formerly included in it. The widely cultivated species popularly known as "sweet alyssum" (''Alyssum maritimum'') is ''Lobularia maritima''. The common rockery plant (''Alyssum saxatile'') is ''Aurinia saxatilis''. ''Alyssum'' foliage is used as food by the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, including the Orthonama obstipata, Gem (''Orthon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardamine
''Cardamine'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the mustard family, Brassicaceae, known as bittercresses and toothworts. It contains more than 200 species of annuals and perennials. Species in this genus can be found worldwide, except the Antarctic, in diverse habitats. The name ''Cardamine'' is derived from the Greek ''kardaminē'', water cress, from ''kardamon'', pepper grass. Description The leaves can have different forms, from minute to medium in size. They can be simple, pinnate or bipinnate. They are basal and cauline (growing on the upper part of the stem), with narrow tips. They are rosulate (forming a rosette). The blade margins can be entire, serrate or dentate. The stem internodes lack firmness. The nearly radially symmetrical flowers grow in a racemose many-flowered inflorescence or in corymbs. The white, pink or purple flowers are minute to medium-sized. The petals are longer than the sepals. The fertile flowers are hermaphroditic. Taxonomy The genus ''Card ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
