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Glite Dictionary
Brassica oleracea

Brassica oleracea

6.6
A plant that includes vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts
  • noun
  • Specialized
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  • Curly kale, known as Brassica oleracea, is popular for its nutritious leaves rich in vitamins.
  • Brassica oleracea kale

Examples

  • Many chefs enjoy using Brassica oleracea varieties like broccoli and cauliflower in healthy recipes.

  • I learned to love them, plus other cultivars of Brassica oleracea, when I started cooking for myself and discovered that vegemush is not necessary.

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  • In the garden, Brassica oleracea plants can thrive in cooler weather, making them ideal for fall harvests.

Synonyms

wild cabbage
vsBrassica oleracea
  • UK
2.6

A wild leafy plant that is the ancestor of garden vegetables like kale or broccoli

includes that wild ancestor plus many cultivated vegetables worldwide

Surface Forms

Brassica oleracea singular
Brassica oleraceas plural

Morphology

Brassica + oleracea

This is a Latin binomial composed of a genus name ('Brassica') plus a species epithet ('oleracea'), so the form transparently signals a taxonomic species of Brassica. However, the species epithet is specialized/Latin and the full extension (that it includes cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts) requires domain knowledge beyond basic vocabulary, so the meaning is only partly inferable to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Brassica oleracea comes from old Latin words. The first part, Brassica, meant 'cabbage' and oleracea meant 'of vegetables', so the name was used for edible, cabbage-like plants and today covers cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts.