Broccoli

Broccoli belongs to an extraordinary family of crops. Cabbage, kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and broccoli are all forms of Brassica oleracea, selected by farmers for different traits. In broccoli, the prized features are a thick flowering stem and a dense crown of unopened buds.

The crop’s deeper ancestry lies among wild brassicas of the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe. Early farmers domesticated these plants and gradually developed leafy, swollen-stemmed, and flowering forms. Broccoli as a recognizable cultivated vegetable was refined on the Italian Peninsula, so it is more accurate to call it an Italian-developed crop with Mediterranean ancestry than a species native to modern Italy in the wild.

Broccoli was established in European gardens before spreading more widely through migration and trade. Italian immigrants helped popularize it in the United States, where commercial demand expanded during the twentieth century. Improved refrigeration and transport made the highly perishable heads easier to ship over long distances.

Today broccoli is grown worldwide, with China and India producing large volumes and Italy and Spain remaining important European growers. In the United States, California dominates commercial production, especially in its cool coastal districts and vegetable-growing valleys, while Arizona supplies the market during cooler months. The crop still reveals its ancestry in the field: if left unharvested, its compact green buds open into the small yellow flowers typical of the brassica family.