Brassica
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collard greens, gai lan, brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi are all cultivars of Brassica oleracea – like Merlot, Riesling, Cabernet, etc. are cultivars of grapevine.
Over 70 million tons of cabbages and other brassicas are produced annually.
Many brassica vegetables are coenospecies, meaning they can often form fertile hybrids.
Current thinking suggests that cauliflower developed from broccoli.
Early domestication is thought to have occurred around the Aegean Sea, from Brassica cretica (which looks a bit like kale, but not really).
The Greeks used the vegetable’s name to avoid blaspheming the gods when they swore (e.g., “By the cabbage!”).
Sources:
Statistica.com
Kew.org
Stansell et al. (2018) Horticulture Research 5:38. DOI: 10.1038/s41438-018-0040-3
Mabry et al. (2021) Molecular Biology and Evolution 38(10):4419–4434. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab183
Maggioni et al. (2018) Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 65:137–159
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Image: Pixabay - Frauke Feind
