Brassica napus var. napus

Rape, Canola, Tori

Brassicaceae Edible: Seeds - oil, Leaves, Vegetable 12,397 iNaturalist observations

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TU(B) - University of Tartu; Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden; Natural History Museum; Botanical Collections

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EMY - Estonian University of Life Sciences

Description

A cabbage family herb. The leaves clasp the stem. The flowers are stalked and yellow. The fruit is a pod. It is 5-6 cm long including the beak. There are about 20 seeds in a pod.

Edible Uses

Young leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable, and the seeds are processed into cooking oil.

Traditional Uses

Young leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The seeds are important for making cooking oil.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

In Nepal it grows up to 2500 m altitude. It is resistant to drought and frost.

Where It Grows

Africa, Asia, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Cuba, East Africa, Ethiopia, Europe*, Himalayas, India, Malawi, Moldova, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, North America, Pakistan, SE Asia, Southern Africa, USA, West Indies, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.

Other Information

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable.

Notes

There are about 30 Brassica species and many cultivated varieties.

Synonyms

Brassica napus var. oleifera (Moench) Delile

References (17)

Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 168
Brouk, B., 1975, Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press, London. p 239
Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 53
Flora of Australia, Volume 8, Lecythidales to Batales, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra (1982) p 237
Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 40

Show all 17 references

Kays, S. J., and Dias, J. C. S., 1995, Common Names of Commercially Cultivated Vegetables of the World in 15 languages. Economic Botany, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 115-152
Lazarides, M. & Hince, B., 1993, Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia, CSIRO. p 38
McNaughton, I.H., 1979, Swedes and rapes, in Simmonds N.W.,(ed), Crop Plant Evolution. Longmans. London. p 53
Manandhar, N.P., 2002, Plants and People of Nepal. Timber Press. Portland, Oregon. p 120
Miguel, E., et al, 1989, A checklist of the cultivated plants of Cuba. Kulturpflanze 37. 1989, 211-357
Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
Purseglove, J.W., 1968, Tropical Crops Dicotyledons, Longmans. p 92
Small, E., 2009, Top 100 Food Plants. The world's most important culinary crops. NRC Research Press. p 460
Toxopeus, H. & Mvere, B., 2004. Brassica napus L. [Internet] Record from Protabase. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa), Wageningen, Netherlands. < http://database.prota.org/search.htm>. Accessed 14 October 2009.
van Wyk, B., 2005, Food Plants of the World. An illustrated guide. Timber press. p 97
Williamson, J., 2005, Useful Plants of Malawi. 3rd. Edition. Mdadzi Book Trust. p 45
Zhou Taiyan, Lu Lianli, Yang Guang, Ihsan A. Al-Shehbaz, BRASSICACEAE (CRUCIFERAE), Flora of China.