Caulanthus crassicaulis, Thickstem Jewelflower

[Joseph Lofthouse]

This week I started another breeding project. This time working on domesticating a wild Brassicaceae that grows in the desert on about 9" of water per year -- without irrigation. The ones I dug are perennial, sending up new growth this spring from plants that flowered last year. They have a strong taproot, and are not rhizomous. I tasted the leaves. They taste like cabbage. I collected about 15 plants and brought them home with me to try growing in the garden.

Caulanthus crassicaulis var. crassicaulis, Thickstem wild cabbage. For the sake of avoiding confusion, I'm going to refer to them by the common name of Thickstem Jewelflower.

[philagardener]

Very intriguing, Joseph Lofthouse ! How woody are the young flower stalks?

[Joseph Lofthouse]

philagardener:

The flower stalks are hollow. I haven't tried eating them when young. I also wonder about selecting for edible roots.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Here's the current state of the jewelflower project: I put them into a pot as soon as I got back from the desert. I even brought their native soil back with me to put into the pot. I'm hoping to keep them alive long enough to transplant into the field. It's been raining A LOT, and my woman has been ill, so I'm not spending much time in the garden these days.