species identification within Brassicaceae

[spero]

Can anyone advise if there is an easy way to identify what brassica species a plant belongs to ?
I am selecting out from what I believe to be a siberian kale (presumably B. napus). I also am breeding in lacinato kale and broccoli (both presumably B. oleracea). I would like to grow the siberian kale at the same time as one of the oleracea's, but would like to be more certain that this is a napus and will not cross. Can anyone advise on how to make this determination ? - thanks, - Jonathan Spero

[trixtrax]

Well there is so much edible diversity within Brassicaceae. You are correct with your presumptions, normal heading broccoli is B. oleracea. Though the flowers of the rest of Brassica spp. and friends are edible as well. For instance I love my Red Russian for its early small broccoli shoots. Siberian kale is B. napus. In short, though I am going to tell a story about B. napus forming from crosses, B. oleracea only very rarely crosses with B. napus, unless you pollinate it yourself (as well as crossing your fingers)!

There are two basic types of B. napus. The backstory is complicated, but the basic story goes like this. The Brassica genus and friends co-evolved as a complex of species that have occasionally crossed in the past (many in the far past). Complexes of species make up many of our great foods - celery, parsley, chervil, carrots, etc make up a complex of species for example. Well, sometime in middle ages (it is presumed) a B. oleracea kale spontaneously crossed with a turnip B.rapa (probably a fodder leaf-type - which are very tasty by the way) they formed a new species from the interspecific cross - B. napus. This is the first type called Siberian kale. Since B. napus can cross with itself it was easy to save seeds and the new variety began its life in the medieval garden. Due to the hybrid vigor of the cross the plant excelled over both its parents and its easy to see why it was kept. Some point later the B. napus kale crossed again with another species, Black Mustard B. nigra, possibly a weed in the vicinity or intentionally cultivated. This conferred even more hybrid vigor, colored veins, and the "hairiness" of B. nigra was expressed in the new species as "frilliness". If you look at some Red Russian kales up close you will notice the veins in the leaf actually grow out from the leaf and spawn little leaftlet "panels" only connected by this rigid vein. Very awesome and strange, indeed. I will try to post a picture sometime. This frilliness essentially traps light into the leaf more efficiently (due to Quantum Electro Dynamics and the curvature of light) than Siberian kale or B. nigra could and therefore adds on the productivity in cold temperate zones coupled with the winter hardiness of B. nigra and you have our useful Red Russian heirloom and B. napus kale type #2.

Here are some pictures, just scraped off images.google.com:

White Russian or Siberian looks approximately like this: www.noblefoodsfarm.com/GreensGuide/images/kale-siberian-lg.jpg

Red Russian kale looks like this approximately: 1.bp.blogspot.com/_Z4XflLkHZqA/SYd4497ce_I/AAAAAAAAAb0/rQfL620cg6Q/s400/Red+Russian+kale.jpg

Adaptive seeds offers a bunch of different kales, this goes to show the diversity...
www.adaptiveseeds.com/catalog/8

Here's some good info on B. napus kales from the affiliated Seed Ambassadors website:
www.seedambassadors.org/Mainpages/still/napuskale/napuskale.htm

[spero]

Thank you for an education. My understanding of B. napus is much enhanced. Between your explanation and the pictures, I was able to "place" the kale I am playing with. Mine is related to the "Russian Frills" variety offered by Adaptive Seeds, and I am now confident it is B napus and not B. oleracea - thanks -Jonathan Spero

[johno]

I look forward to more posts by both of you!
I'm trying some brassica crosses, too.