Brassica

A cool-season Asian leaf vegetable grown for its loose, non-heading rosette of dark-green leaves carried on broad, juicy white stalks — the spoon-shaped petioles that distinguish it from heading cabbages. Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder records that the group spans varieties from 3-4 inches to 24 inches tall and is edible at every stage, from seedlings to small immature heads to large mature heads and even while flowering. The stems are mild and juicy while the leaves carry a cabbage-like flavor; like other brassicas it tolerates light frosts but bolts in summer heat.

A cool-season vegetable grown for its large, tight, terminal head of green flower buds on a thick edible stem, framed by waxy blue-green leaves. Grown as an annual; it grows poorly once daytime temperatures consistently exceed 80°F, so it is timed for spring and fall. Harvest promptly while the head is firm and tight, before the buds begin to open.

A slow-growing, long-season cool-weather vegetable grown for the miniature cabbage-like buds (1-2 inches wide) that form in the leaf axils along a single 2-3 foot stem. It is the same species as kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi, differing only by cultivar group. Flavor improves after the first fall frost, so it is timed for a cool-temperature autumn harvest rather than summer heat.

A cool-weather leaf vegetable grown for its dense, edible head of tightly wrapped blue-green, red, or wrinkled (Savoy) leaves. A biennial almost always grown as an annual, it forms a 3-4 pound head in about 80 days and rarely flowers in cultivation. It shares its species with kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi, and grows poorly once daytime temperatures stay above 80 degrees F.

A cool-weather brassica grown for the large, tight head of aborted white flower buds — the "curd" — that forms at the center of a rosette of broad blue-green leaves. The same species as cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi, it is harvested before the curd ever opens into true flowers. Grown as an annual; notoriously fussy, with little tolerance for heat, drought, or cold, it does best in the cool temperatures of spring and fall.

A cool-weather leafy cabbage relative grown for its broad, leathery, blue-green leaves that grow in a loose upright rosette on a thick stem — never forming a head ("acephala" is Greek for headless). A biennial almost always grown as an annual, it sweetens after a fall frost and, in mild-winter regions, keeps producing leaves through winter until it bolts in spring. One of the most cold-tolerant vegetables in the cabbage family.

A cool-weather vegetable in the cabbage family (Brassicaceae) grown for the fat, rounded, turnip-like swelling of its stem just above the soil surface. Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder describes a low, compact annual crop about 0.75-1 foot tall and wide that rarely flowers and is best picked young, when the bulb reaches 2-3 inches across and is tender and sweet — left larger it turns tough and woody. It needs cool temperatures and grows poorly once daytime highs consistently exceed 80°F, so it is typically grown as a spring or fall crop. Both the swollen stem and the leafy tops are edible, raw or cooked.

A productive cool-season edible Brassica (a wild-cabbage cultivar in the Acephala / non-heading group, alongside collards). Upright blue-green strap-shaped leaves with strong kitchen-garden value and ornamental texture; grown as a cool-season annual or short-lived biennial.

A fast, erect cool-season annual in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), introduced to all of North America from Eurasia and grown widely as a leafy vegetable. NC State Extension describes a rapid-growing plant about 1-1.5 feet tall and wide with large (over 6 inches) leaves — lobed lower leaves and shorter-stalked upper leaves, smooth with a whitish bloom and sometimes purple veins or fully purple coloring. It does best in the cool of fall and spring and bolts in summer heat, throwing up terminal clusters of small four-petaled yellow flowers and developing a strong, spicy flavor. The leaves, seeds, flowers, and stems are all edible raw or cooked, making it a productive, peppery green for the edible garden.

A cool-weather root vegetable of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Scandinavia and Finland and also called swede, Swedish turnip, or yellow turnip. NC State Extension describes a slow-growing, spreading biennial grown as an annual that forms a swollen edible root best harvested at 3-5 inches across, topped by deep blue-green, deeply lobed leaves growing close to the ground. It wants full sun, good drainage, and a steady inch of water a week — drought stress turns the root woody and bitter. Heat-intolerant, it is grown for a fall or early-winter harvest and reaches maturity in roughly 90-120 days.

A fast, cool-season root vegetable grown for both its swollen storage root and its peppery greens. The familiar form is a round white globe with a purple-to-magenta shoulder where the crown meets sun and air, tapering to a slender taproot below a rosette of bristly green leaves. Best harvested young — two inches or less across — because flavor turns sharply more pungent as the root enlarges and as growing conditions dry out.