This is the wild cabbage, brassica oleracea, from which our cultivated cabbages originated.
"The Cauliflower"
A. A. Crozier
The cauliflower crosses readily with the cabbage and other varieties and species of the genus brassica.
"The Cauliflower"
A. A. Crozier
As vegetables for the table, was a great variety of beans and calavances, among which was the Dolichos Soja or soy plant, and the polystachios, with its large clusters of beautiful scarlet flowers; the Cytisus Cadjan, whole seed yields the famous bean-milk, which it is the custom of the Emperor to offer to Embassadors on their presentation; large mild radishes, onions, garlic, Capsicum or Cayenne-pepper; convolvulus batatas, or sweet potatoes; two species of tobacco; Amomum, or ginger, in great quantities, the root of which they preserve in syrup; Sinapis, or mustard, and the brassica orientalis, from which an oil is expressed for the table.
"Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to Canton"
John Barrow