Cauliflower

Cauliflower, a variety of the cabbage (Brassica oleracea, botrytis cauliflora) in which an abnormally enlarged, much-branched depressed inflorescence with fleshy branches and abortive flowers is produced. It was in cultivation in England in the sixteenth century, more than a century before the more robust winter variety, the broccoli (B. oleracea botrytis asparagoides). Besides its use as a boiled vegetable, cauliflower makes an excellent pickle.