brassica

Any of a group of plants, many of which are cultivated as vegetables. The most familiar is the common cabbage (Brassica oleracea), with its varieties broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. (Genus Brassica, family Cruciferae.)

In 1990 US experiments in cross-pollinating the wild cabbage (B. campestris) with related varieties of cultivated cabbage, turnip, and swede produced a new plant with a life cycle of only five weeks. This is now being used in US schools to enable pupils to carry out plant-breeding experiments that can produce ten generations in one year.