Broccoli
Brassica oleracea italica
A stout annual or biennial brassica grown for its immature flower buds, which form a dense green head on a thick pale stem. Calabrese types make one large central head in summer; sprouting types overwinter and give repeated slim purple or white spears in spring. Heads, upper stem and young leaves are all eaten, steamed or raw.
A cultivated crop of gardens, allotments and field-scale vegetable beds on deep, firm, limed soil in full sun. Not a wild plant in Britain and Ireland; occasional plants persist on tips and cultivated ground but do not naturalise.
Generally safe raw or cooked, with no toxic parts. Large habitual quantities of raw brassica contain glucosinolates that may matter to people managing thyroid conditions or taking warfarin, who should take their own advice. Heads hold slugs, caterpillars and cabbage aphid deep in the florets, so soak before use; commercially grown crops may carry residues, so wash well.
Always use more than one reference to confirm a plant. You are responsible for what you choose to forage.
Head
A domed cluster of tightly packed green flower buds on branching stalks, the surface visibly granular rather than smooth. Cauliflower's curd is a solid white mass of undifferentiated tissue with no distinguishable individual buds.
Spears
Sprouting types produce no single large head but many slim shoots, each a small bud cluster on a tender 15–20cm stalk, often purple-tinged. The whole spear is picked, stalk included.
Leaves
Large, blue-green, wavy-edged and coarsely lobed at the base, on a clear stalk, with a thick pale midrib and a waxy bloom that beads water. Much broader and flatter than kale's tightly curled or strapped leaves.
Flowering
If left uncut the buds open to four-petalled yellow flowers on lengthening stalks, after which the head is stringy and bitter. Yellow showing between the buds is the sign the head is past its best.
Updated 2026-08-07T20:57:47.243Z · Part of the shared Foragers Log catalogue · Vegetable