On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from cabbage crepes article title. This article is about the vegetable. Cabbage and cross section on white. Smooth-leafed, firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed purple cabbages and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colours being rarer.

Under conditions of long sunny days, such as those found at high northern latitudes in summer, cabbages can grow quite large. Cabbage was most likely domesticated somewhere in Europe in Ancient history before 1000 BC. Cabbage in the cuisine has been documented since Antiquity. The varietal epithet capitata is derived from the Latin word for “having a head”. Cabbage” was originally used to refer to multiple forms of B.

A related species, Brassica rapa, is commonly named Chinese, napa or celery cabbage, and has many of the same uses. The original family name of brassicas was Cruciferae, which derived from the flower petal pattern thought by medieval Europeans to resemble a crucifix. The word brassica derives from bresic, a Celtic word for cabbage. The cabbage inflorescence, which appears in the plant’s second year of growth, features white or yellow flowers, each with four perpendicularly arranged petals. Many shapes, colors and leaf textures are found in various cultivated varieties of cabbage. Leaf types are generally divided between crinkled-leaf, loose-head savoys and smooth-leaf firm-head cabbages, while the color spectrum includes white and a range of greens and purples.