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I was photographing wild cabbage plants at Dover last week, thought it might interest some members on the vegetable forum to see the wild ancestor of the cultivated species. These are the ages old wild form that was slowly bred and cultivated into the cabbges we eat today. Its not too common, favoring lime rich or salty conditions so usually only found on mainly shingle beaches in northern Europe (I don't know if its naturalised in other areas).
Oddly these wild forms can be either biennial or perennial, most of the Dover plants were perennial, to judge from the woody trunks they had formed - quite unlike the large, stemless rosettes of cultivated cabbages. Also present in the vicinity was Sea Kale, another wild form of a cultivated vegetable and Sea Beet, precursor of the farmed beets. (Sea Kale can be difficult to tell apart from Wild cabbage, having similar looking foliage)
1,2&3: Sea cabbage.
4: Sea beet
5: Sea Kale, at Dungeness about 10 miles west of Dover - it grows at Dover too, but this was the better picture.
Click an image for an enlarged view.
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