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Brassica carinata

Common name:	Abyssinian Cabbage	Family:	Cruciferae
Author:	A.Braun.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The oil contained in the seed of this species is rich in erucic acid which is toxic. However, modern cultivars have been selected which are almost free of erucic acid.
Range:	N. Africa - Ethiopia. Occasional in Britain.
Habitat:	An occasional bird-sown alien on waste ground in Britain.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Abyssinian Mustard [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	carinata = keeled
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Capparales. Renamed to Brassicaceae -- Mustard family

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 1m at a fast rate. It is not frost tender. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Condiment Flowers Leaves Oil.

Leaves and young stems - raw or cooked[2, 52, 61, 141]. Used when up to 30cm tall[183]. A mild and pleasant cabbage flavour[K], the young growth can be cut finely and used in mixed salads, whilst older leaves are cooked like cabbage leaves[183].
Immature flowering stems - cooked. Used like broccoli[183], they make a nice vegetable[K].
An edible oil is obtained from the seed[183]. Oil from the wild species is high in erucic acid, which is toxic[141], though there are some cultivars that contain very little erucic acid and can be used as food[K].
The seed can also be crushed and used as a condiment[200].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil[200]. Succeeds in any reasonable soil[52].
This species is very tolerant of a wide range of climatic conditions but it prefers a range of 15 - 20° c in the day with a diurnal range of 5 - 6° c and moderate rainfall[200].
Cultivated for its edible leaves in some areas, plants that are given some protection from the cold can supply edible leaves all through the winter[52]. There are some named varieties. 'Texsel' is especially good for temperate climates, it is fast growing even at relatively low temperatures[141, 200].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ in succession from March to early September. The seed can also be sown under cloches in February when it will yield a crop in May.

Cultivars

'Texsel': This form is especially good for temperate climates, it is fast growing even at relatively low temperatures[141, 200]. Immature plants are excellent as a green leafy vegetable, the flavour is somewhat milder than cabbage greens, without the pungency of mustard greens[183].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[141] Carruthers. S. P. (Editor) Alternative Enterprises for Agriculture in the UK. Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Univ. of Reading 1986 ISBN 0704909820
Some suggested alternative commercial crops for Britain. Readable. Produced by a University study group.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

Brassica carinata

Paul Tout (tout@up.spin.it) Sat, 14 Feb 1998

Hi Rich,

Checking out PFAF's very interesting database I came across Brassica carinata.... you call the Abyssinian Cabbage. You might like to add that (for some reason) it is also known as Texsel Greens and is now popularly planted as a game cover plant in UK as an alternative to mustard after failed crops of kale or maize. In Ethiopia it is eaten as an alternative to meat during the fast of Ramadan..... prone to Brassica sickness and not viable north of Yorkshire and the Penines.

First trialled by the Game Conservancy in 1985 the seed is now widely available from game cover seed dealers.... like lots of other wacky stuff.

Funny these huntin' / vegan alliances...

I'll be in touch as I come across other crops I know a little about and when I return home in the summer I may have some seed to prop up your flagging seedless Perennial Buckwheat plants,

Regards,

Paul

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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