Brassica oleracea
Brassica elongata
broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cultivated cabbage, kale, wild cabbage
elongated mustard
branched distally, 5–10 dm.
(several from base), branched basally, 5–10 dm, (usually glabrous, rarely sparsely hirsute).
petiole to 30 cm;
blade oblong or obovate, to 45 cm × 150 mm, (fleshy), blades pinnatifid or margins dentate.
blade (usually bright green), obovate to elliptic (not lobed), (3–)5–20(–30) cm × (5–)10–35(–60) mm, (base cuneate), margins subentire to dentate, (surfaces glabrous or often with trichomes minute, tubercled-based, curved, coarse).
(distal) sessile;
blade (oblong to lanceolate), base auriculate and amplexicaul, (margins entire).
(distal) shortly petiolate;
blade (oblong or lanceolate, to 10 cm) base not auriculate or amplexicaul.
not paniculately branched.
paniculately branched.
sepals 8–15 × 1.5–2.7 mm;
petals yellow, white, or lemon yellow, ovate or elliptic, (15–)18–25(–30) × (6–)8–12 mm, claw 7–15 mm, apex rounded;
filaments 8–12 mm;
anthers 2.5–4 mm.
sepals 3–4(–4.5) × 1–1.5 mm;
petals bright yellow to orange-yellow, obovate, (5–)7–10 × 2.5–3.5(–4) mm, claw 2.5–4 mm, apex rounded;
filaments 3.5–4.5 mm;
anthers 1–1.5 mm;
gynophore 1.5–4(–5) mm in fruit.
spreading to ascending, (8–)14–25(–40) mm.
spreading to divaricately ascending, (6–)8–18 mm.
spreading to ascending, smooth, ± 4-angled or subterete, (2.5–)5–8(–10) cm × (2.5–)3–4(–5) mm;
valvular segment with 10–20 seeds per locule, (2–)3–7.5(–9) cm, terminal segment usually seedless, rarely 1 or 2-seeded, (conic), (3–)4–10 mm.
(stipitate), spreading to ascending (not appressed to rachis), torulose, terete, (1.5–)2–4(–4.8) cm × (1–)1.5–2 mm;
valvular segment with (2–)5–11(–13) seeds per locule, (1.2–)1.6–4(–4.5) cm, terminal segment seedless, 0.5–2.5(–3) mm.
brown, 1.7–2.5 mm diam.;
seed coat reticulate, not mucilaginous when wetted.
grey to brown, 1–1.6 mm diam.;
seed coat reticulate, mucilaginous when wetted.
= 18.
= 22.
Brassica oleracea
Brassica elongata
Brassica oleracea is widely cultivated worldwide as a vegetable crop, and its various forms are generally recognized as varieties instead of subspecies; these include var. acephala de Candolle (kale and collards), var. botrytis Linnaeus (cauliflower), var. capitata Linnaeus (cabbage), var. gemmifera Zenk (Brussels sprouts), var. gongylodes Linnaeus (kohlrabi), and var. italica Plenk (broccoli). It also occurs sporadically as a weedy escape from cultivation and seems unlikely to persist for long periods of time. It is reported to be naturalized on coastal cliffs (maritime slopes) in the northern Central Coastal Region and the central and southern North Coastal Region in California (Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties) (J. T. Howell et al. 1958; Howell 1970; H. G. Baker 1972; R. C. Rollins 1993b).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The earliest North American collections of Brassica elongata were from ballast at Linnton, near Portland, Oregon, in 1911, and from a garden in Bingen, Klickitat County, Washington, in 1915. The species does not appear to have persisted at, or spread from, either location (R. C. Rollins and I. A. Al-Shehbaz 1986). It was next collected in 1968 from east-central Nevada, where it is now well-established in Eureka and White Pine counties, and just into Lander County, and spreading rapidly along both roadsides and adjacent high desert (Rollins 1980; Rollins and Al-Shehbaz; Rollins 1993). The semiarid region of North America appears to be a well-suited habitat for B. elongata and the species appears destined to become a permanent part of the flora of the Intermountain Basin (Rollins and Al-Shehbaz).
According to R. C. Rollins (1980), the Nevada plants belong to subsp. integrifolia (Boissier) Breistroffer, but the species is so variable that dividing it into infraspecific taxa is not practical.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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