brassica

n.
Any of various plants of the genus Brassica of the mustard family, including cabbage, broccoli, and turnip.

[New Latin Brassica, genus name, from Latin brassica, cabbage.]

For more information on brassica, visit Britannica.com.

Genus of vegetables that includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohl rabi, mustard, and swedes.

A genus of plants of the Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) family containing a large number of cultivated plants eaten by humans and food animals. Poisoning with them is rare but under particular growing conditions and if the diet consists almost entirely of the one plant some massive outbreaks of poisoning can occur.
Poisoning syndromes attributed to Brassica spp. include hemolytic anemia (kale anemia) caused by SMCO, goiter from glucosinolates, nitrate/nitrite, photosensitization, blindness (polioencephalomalacia), respiratory distress and rumen stasis.
Includes B. campestris (B. rapa), B. hirta (Sinapis alba), B. juncea (Indian or leaf mustard), B. kaber (Sinapis arvensis), B. napus var. napus (B. napus), B. sinapistrum (Sinapis arvensis).

• B. alba — annual weed; the seed is used, together with that of B. nigra, to make commercial mustard. The seed, stubble or plant in pod can cause gastroenteritis with signs of abdominal pain, salivation and diarrhea. The toxin is a mixture of isothiocyanates called mustard oil. The enzyme myrosinase is needed to activate the oil and produce irritant effect. Oil cake containing the oil may be nontoxic because myrosinase is inactivated but can become toxic if animal has access to alternative source of the enzyme simultaneously.
• B. napobrassica — swede turnip.
• B. napus — rape or canola.
• B. nigra — seeds are used in mixtures with B. alba in the manufacture of commercial mustard powder. Can cause poisoning as for B. alba (see above).
• B. oleracea — the commercial vegetables and cultivated fodder plants. Includes B. o. var. acephala (kale, cole, chou moellier), B. o. var. botrytis (cauliflower), B. o. var. capitata (cabbage), B. o. var. gemmifera (Brussel sprouts), B. o. var. italica (broccoli, calabrese).
• B. rapa — turnip.
• Brassica rapa subsp. campestris — turnip rape.

[L., cabbage]  /BRASS ikuh/
plants of the mustard family, including cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and turnip

Mustard family
Cruciferae

Brass'i-ka. An important genus of temperate Old World annual or biennial herbs, containing all the vegetables of the cabbage tribe, including mustard, kale, rape, and turnip. Some are pernicious weeds.

Description
They have mostly smooth, often bluish-green, water-shedding leaves. Flowers yellow or white, with 4 petals, and in terminal racemes.

How to Grow
Although Flowering Kale and Flowering Cabbage are often sold as spring bedding plants, they do best when started in late summer to mature in the fall. Sow seeds in the garden, and protect seedlings from cabbage worms and aphids. If grown in spring, start indoors 8-10 weeks before frost-free date and set out as soon as the soil can be worked. Harden off the transplants thoroughly. Plants prefer cool weather.

Brassica oleracea: Acephala Group
Flowering Kale ; Flowering Cabbage . A form with a stem topped with a cluster of leaves, not in a dense cabbagelike head. Two kinds are important in cool-weather gardens for their richly colored purple-, cream-, pink-, white-, and rose-variegated leaves. Plants are quite resistant to frost. Flowering Kale has frilly leaves and an open growth habit. It is relatively heat-resistant and can be grown through the summer. Flowering Cabbage forms lower growing, flattened plants with broad heads. Both kinds are excellent for formal borders in the fall or can be grown in pots around the patio. Nw. Europe. There are many cultivars available, including 'Dynasty Pink' with pink-variegated leaves. Biennial grown as a hardy annual.

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The botanical name for vegetables in the cabbage family (Cruciferae, formerly Brassicaceae), including cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and, of course, cabbages.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - Brassica, kål

Français (French)
n. - (Bot) crucifère, brassicacée

Deutsch (German)
n. - (bot.) Kohl

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κράμβη

Italiano (Italian)
crocifere

Português (Portuguese)
n. - brássicas (f pl) (Bot.)

Русский (Russian)
разновидность капусты

Español (Spanish)
n. - planta crucífera del género brassica

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kål (bot.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
高丽菜

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 高麗菜

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (식물의 일종) 브레시카

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アブラナ

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮ברסיקה (כרוב או לפת)‬

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brassica plant