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Brassica napus pabularia

Common name:	Rape Kale	Family:	Cruciferae
Author:	(DC.)Rchb.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The oil contained in the seed of some varieties of this species can be rich in erucic acid which is toxic. However, modern cultivars have been selected which are almost free of erucic acid.
Range:	Europe - Mediterranean. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Banks of streams, ditches and arable fields in Britain[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	B. campestris var. pabularia[G] B. napus var. pabularia[G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Siberian Kale [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	apus = stalk-less (foot-less) pabularia = of pastures or fodder
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Capparales. Renamed to Brassicaceae -- Mustard family

Physical Characteristics

Annual/Biennial growing to 1.2m. It is hardy to zone 7 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to August. 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 2/5 for medicinal use.

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

Edible Uses

Leaves Oil.

Leaves - raw or cooked[4, 34, 37]. Added to salads or used as a potherb[183].
Immature flowering stems - cooked in much the same way as broccoli[183].
An edible oil is obtained from the seed, it is used mainly for cooking purposes, but also for salads[4, 13, 34, 46, 183]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.
The sprouted seed is often used as the mustard part of mustard and cress. Eaten in salads[4, 34, 37, 183].
The seed is used as a mustard flavouring[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Diuretic Emollient.

The root is emollient and diuretic[240]. The juice of the roots is used in the treatment of chronic coughs and bronchial catarrh[240, 269].
The seed, powdered, with salt is said to be a folk remedy for cancer[269].
Rape oil is used in massage and oil baths, it is believed to strengthen the skin and keep it cool and healthy. With camphor it is applied as a remedy for rheumatism and stiff joints[269].

Other Uses

Oil.

The seed contains up to 45% of an edible semi-drying oil, it is used as a luminant, lubricant, in soap making etc[13, 21, 57, 142].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil[200]. Succeeds in any reasonable soil[52]. Prefers a heavy soil and cool moist conditions[16, 20]. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.2 to 8.3.
Very young plants are susceptible to cold damage, -4° C either killing or injuring seedlings, whereas -2° C has no affect when the plants are more than one month old[269].
The rape kales have non-tuberous roots. They are cultivated for their edible leaves. Plants are intolerant of root disturbance and so should not be transplanted[200].
Rape kale is 70% self-pollinating and 30% cross-pollinated. Even if wind and insects are absent, seed are still produced. Yield increases with honeybees[269].
The growth of this plant is inhibited by field mustard and hedge mustard growing nearby[18, 20].
This species is closely related to B. rapa[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ.

Suppliers

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

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]

References for Brassica napus var. pabularia (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[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.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

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

References

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[16] Simons. New Vegetable Growers Handbook. Penguin 1977 ISBN 0-14-046-050-0
A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[20] Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 1978 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Fairly good.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[34] Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford University Press 1975
Good drawings of some of the more common food plants from around the world. Not much information though.

[37] Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant. Blackie and Son. 1878
Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[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.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[142] Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975 ISBN 0-12-136450-x
Readable but not very comprehensive.

[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.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[269] Duke. J. Handbook of Energy Crops - 1983
Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of plants.

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