Mustards: cabbages; cauliflowers; turnips; etc.; Also called: genus Brassica.
Any plant of the genus Brassica, family Cruciferae. The most familiar species is the common cabbage Brassica oleracea, with its varieties broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and brussels sprouts.
In 1990 US experiments in cross-pollinating the wild cabbage B. campestris with related varieties of cultivated cabbage, turnip, and rutabaga produced a new plant having a life cycle of only five weeks. It is now being used in US schools to enable pupils to carry out plant-breeding experiments that can produce ten generations in one year.