Post by trixtrax on Apr 9, 2010 4:59:58 GMT -5
I first heard about this last year while chatting with another seed saver. This vegetable, Brassica juncea tumida, as I understand the ancestor of Boc Choi, has these interesting protrusions at the base. I haven't had the opportunity to try this one yet, but I have been told it is like the best of kohlrabi and boc choi together. In China, it is typically pickled in barrels - in a process that reminds me of kim chi. Brassica juncea tumida might have a synonym, I'm not sure.
Here is some info and pictures:
www.makantime.com/ingredientguide/zhacai.htm
www.docstoc.com/docs/8397236/Chinese-pickle-Zhacai/
Has anyone grown this or know anything about it? Apparently it is pretty old in the evolution of B. juncea crop. I have read that some rare B. juncea actually are perennial. There just might be a perennial type of this.
The story thickens. B. juncea apparently is closely related to Crambe abyssinica. A paper was published in 2006 where B. juncea was crossed with Crambe abyssinica and they succeeded with ovary culture. Link: www.springerlink.com/content/x54r5t1715448110/
Divergent enough so that ole traditional plant breeding maybe can't make a hybrid, but it still is illuminating. Though I did hear a rumor that someone succeeded doing a cross without ovary culture or anything like that, but it was snatched up.
And this leads to my final point, which is that B. juncea, Crambe, and B. oleracea robertiana, all share some striking similarity. B. oleracea robertiana (syn B. montana) was mentioned earlier on the forum by stevil: alanbishop.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=brassica&action=display&thread=4107
Here is another link showing photos of B. oleracea robertiana and other Brassica ancestors like B. adpressa and Diplotaxis: sophy.u-3mrs.fr/photohtm/FI143.HTM
So, perhaps the triangle of u ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_of_U ) is more complex than it seems. Maybe things evolved more like Crambe abyssinica -> B. juncea -> B. oleracea?
What do you think?
Here is some info and pictures:
www.makantime.com/ingredientguide/zhacai.htm
www.docstoc.com/docs/8397236/Chinese-pickle-Zhacai/
Has anyone grown this or know anything about it? Apparently it is pretty old in the evolution of B. juncea crop. I have read that some rare B. juncea actually are perennial. There just might be a perennial type of this.
The story thickens. B. juncea apparently is closely related to Crambe abyssinica. A paper was published in 2006 where B. juncea was crossed with Crambe abyssinica and they succeeded with ovary culture. Link: www.springerlink.com/content/x54r5t1715448110/
Divergent enough so that ole traditional plant breeding maybe can't make a hybrid, but it still is illuminating. Though I did hear a rumor that someone succeeded doing a cross without ovary culture or anything like that, but it was snatched up.
And this leads to my final point, which is that B. juncea, Crambe, and B. oleracea robertiana, all share some striking similarity. B. oleracea robertiana (syn B. montana) was mentioned earlier on the forum by stevil: alanbishop.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=brassica&action=display&thread=4107
Here is another link showing photos of B. oleracea robertiana and other Brassica ancestors like B. adpressa and Diplotaxis: sophy.u-3mrs.fr/photohtm/FI143.HTM
So, perhaps the triangle of u ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_of_U ) is more complex than it seems. Maybe things evolved more like Crambe abyssinica -> B. juncea -> B. oleracea?
What do you think?
