Are kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts really all the same plant?

[Michie]

Have you ever heard of the plant Brassica oleracea?

These vegetables — broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, cauliflower — are all varieties grown from the plant Brassica oleracea.(Image credit: stockcreations via Shutterstock)


Kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens and kohlrabi have unique nutritional values, and we think of them as distinct vegetables. Yet, they all share the same species name. Could they all really come from the same plant?

The short answer is yes, and humans are responsible for the differences among these veggies.


"It is all one plant, Brassica oleracea, that humans have selected over multiple generations to have these varying vegetables that we all enjoy eating," Makenzie Mabry, an evolutionary biologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History, told Live Science.

Chris Pires, an evolutionary biologist who studies crop science at Colorado State University, calls these veggies "the dogs of the plant world." All pet dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the same species, domesticated from wolves (Canis lupus), and they come in different varieties, or breeds. Similarly, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and the other aforementioned vegetables were also domesticated from the same species, B. oleracea.

Continued below.

Are kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts really all the same plant?

Have you ever heard of the plant Brassica oleracea?

www.livescience.com

 

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Have you ever heard of the plant Brassica oleracea?

These vegetables — broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, cauliflower — are all varieties grown from the plant Brassica oleracea.(Image credit: stockcreations via Shutterstock)


Kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens and kohlrabi have unique nutritional values, and we think of them as distinct vegetables. Yet, they all share the same species name. Could they all really come from the same plant?

The short answer is yes, and humans are responsible for the differences among these veggies.


"It is all one plant, Brassica oleracea, that humans have selected over multiple generations to have these varying vegetables that we all enjoy eating," Makenzie Mabry, an evolutionary biologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History, told Live Science.

Chris Pires, an evolutionary biologist who studies crop science at Colorado State University, calls these veggies "the dogs of the plant world." All pet dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the same species, domesticated from wolves (Canis lupus), and they come in different varieties, or breeds. Similarly, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and the other aforementioned vegetables were also domesticated from the same species, B. oleracea.

Continued below.

Are kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts really all the same plant?

Have you ever heard of the plant Brassica oleracea?

www.livescience.com

We are now pulling up the remains of the best Brassica planting ever: cabbage, Broccoli, Rutabagas, Kale, Chard, and leafy greens. Our "winter garden." In the warm weather, they were starting to go to seed, and those pesky white moths were beginning to wreak havoc. We can tell they are all in the same family because they are all susceptible to the same pressures. They all have a very similar odor, and they have similar root systems. The article sounds true.. something I think we knew but never thought through. Thanks for sharing. We are pulling the rest today.

 

[Michie]

We are now pulling up the remains of the best Brassica planting ever: cabbage, Broccoli, Rutabagas, Kale, Chard, and leafy greens. In the warm weather, they were starting to go to seed, and those pesky white moths were beginning to wreak havoc. We can tell they are all in the same family because they are all susceptible to the same pressures. They all have a very similar odor, and they have similar root systems. The article sounds true.. something I think we knew but never thought through. Thanks for sharing. We are pulling the rest today.

I never really occurred to me. I thought they could be of the same family but never thought of the same plant. I thought it was interesting.