Cabbage (Brassica oleraceæ) is found in a wild state in various parts of Europe and in southern England, always on maritime cliffs. It is a biennial, with fleshy lobed leaves covered with a glaucous bloom; altogether so different in form and appearance from the cabbage of our gardens that few would believe it could possibly have been the parent of so varied a progeny as are comprised in the Savoy, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Broccoli and other numerous varieties. Over one hundred fifty varieties are enumerated. The common or cultivated cabbage is well known, and from a very early period has been a favorite culinary vegetable in almost daily use throughout the civilized world.
Carrot (Daucus) of which there are about twenty species are mostly natives of the Mediterranean countries. The common carrot is a biennial plant and is universally cultivated for the sake of its root. In all varieties of the wild plant this is slender, woody and of a very strong flavor; and that of the cultivated variety is much thicker and more fleshy, much milder in its flavor and qualities. Its color is generally red, but sometimes orange or yellowish white.
Cauliflower (B. oleracea botrytis cauliflora) is of great antiquity, but its origin is unknown, although it is usually ascribed to Italy. To the English and Dutch gardeners we are chiefly indebted for the perfection it has attained. Heads of immense size are now grown for the market. It is by no means uncommon to see a head perfectly sound and smooth, fully ten inches in diameter, and, contrary to the usual rule, size is not obtained at the expense of quality, the larger, if differing at all, being more tender and delicious. The varieties of the Cauliflower are numerous.
Celery (Apium graveolens). The plant is hardy, and is largely cultivated in the United States, Canada and Europe. In cultivation, however, abundant nutrition has greatly mollified its properties, and two principal forms have arisen. The first sort is the common celery, where the familiar long blanched succulent stalks are produced by transplanting the seedlings into richly manured trenches, which are filled up as the plants grow, and finally raised into ridges over which little more than the tops of the leaves appear; and a supply is thus insured throughout the whole winter. The other form is the turnip-rooted celery, or celeriac.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus). The common cucumber is distinguished by heart-shaped leaves, which are rough with hairs approaching to bristles, and oblong fruit. It is a native of the middle and south of Asia, and has been cultivated from the earliest times. Its fruit forms an important article of food in its native regions, the south of Europe, etc., and an esteemed delicacy in colder countries, where it is produced by the aid of artificial heat. Many varieties are in cultivation, with fruit from four inches to two feet long, rough, smooth, etc.
Vegetable Marrow (Cucurbita ovifera) is closely allied to the cucumber, and is supposed to have been originally brought from Persia. Like the cucumber it is a tender annual, but succeeds out of doors in summer in this country.
Many other members of the cucumber family are cultivated as esculents, notably in the warmer parts of the world. Of these the chief are Pumpkins, Melon Pumpkin, Water Melon, Chocho, Bottle Gourd, Squash.
Egg-plant (Solanum melongena). The egg-like fruit known as egg-apple, etc., is a favorite article of food in the East Indies, and has thence been introduced to most warm countries. It varies in size from that of a hen’s egg to that of a swan’s egg, in color from white or yellow to violet. Egg-plants are much grown in the United States, where “Jew’s-apple” is one of the names for the fruit.
Kale, or Borecole (B. oleracea acephala) is distinguished by its leaves being beautifully cut and curled, of a green or purple color, or variegated with red, green, and yellow, never closing so as to form a heart, nor producing edible flower heads like a Cauliflower. Its leaves and tender shoots are not only edible but form one of the most useful green vegetables.
Lentils (Ervum Lens), a slender plant supposed to be native of Western Asia, Greece and Italy. The Lentil was introduced into Egypt as a cultivated plant at an early date, and from this center spread east and west. It is a weak, straggling plant, rarely exceeding eighteen inches high, often much more dwarfed, having pinnate leaves terminating in tendrils. The flowers are white, lilac, or pale blue, small and formed like those of a pea. There are three varieties of lentil recognized in the countries in which it is cultivated: the small brown, which is the lightest flavored and the best esteemed for soups and haricots; the yellow variety, which is slightly larger; and the lentil of Provence, France, which has seeds as large as a small pea, but is better appreciated as fodder for cattle than for food for man.