|
Small turnip root | | Scientific classification | | Kingdom: | Plantae | | Division: | Magnoliophyta | | Class: | Magnoliopsida | | Order: | Brassicales | | Family: | Brassicaceae | | Genus: | Brassica | | Species: | B. rapa | | Subspecies: | B. r. rapa |
| | Trinomial name | | Brassica rapa rapa
| For similar vegetables also called "turnip", see Turnip (disambiguation). The turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, bulbous taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as feed for livestock. Turnips are notably popular in Europe, particularly in its colder parts, because they grow well in cold climates and can be stored for several months after harvest. Description The most common type of turnip marketed as a vegetable in Europe and North America is mostly white-skinned apart from the upper 1–6 centimeters, which protrude above the ground and are purple, red, or greenish wherever sunlight has fallen. This above-ground part develops from stem tissue, but is fused with the root. The interior flesh is entirely white. The entire root is roughly spherical, but occasionally squircle in shape, about 5–20 centimeters in diameter, and lacks side roots. The taproot (the normal root below the swollen storage root) is thin and 10 centimeters or more in length; it is trimmed off before marketing. The leaves grow directly from the above-ground shoulder of the root, with little or no visible crown or neck (as found in rutabagas). Turnip leaves are sometimes eaten, and resemble mustard greens; varieties specifically grown for the greens resemble mustard greens more than those grown for the roots, with small or no storage roots. Varieties of Brassica rapa that have been developed specifically for use as leaf vegetables are called Chinese cabbage. Both leaves and root have a pungent flavor similar to raw cabbage or radishes that becomes mild after cooking.
Turnip Turnip roots weigh up to about 1 kilogram, although they can be harvested when smaller. Size is partly a function of variety and partly a function of the length of time that the turnip has grown. Most very small turnips (also called baby turnips) are specialty varieties. These are only available when freshly harvested and do not keep well. Most baby turnips can be eaten whole, including their leaves. Baby turnips come in yellow-, orange-, and red-fleshed varieties as well as white-fleshed. Their flavor is mild, so they can be eaten raw in salads like radishes. The exact place where turnips were domesticated is unknown, but Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Mediterranean region are candidates. Turnips were grown in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.
Turnip (flower) Evidence from around 1500 BC show farmers of India growing forms of wild turnip for the oil from its seeds. Neolithic evidence show it grown independently in northern climes and from B. campestris roots. These farmers cultivated the round "roots" we know today. Turnips result from a swollen stalk of the plant and are not a swollen root, as popularly believed. Cultivation The 1881 Household Cyclopedia gives these instructions for field cultivation of turnips:
The leaves of turnips are also eaten as "turnip greens" The benefits derived from turnip husbandry are of great magnitude; light soils are cultivated with profit and facility; abundance of food is provided for man and beast; the earth is turned to the uses for which it is physically calculated, and by being suitably cleaned with this preparatory crop, a bed is provided for grass seeds, wherein they flourish and prosper with greater vigor than after any other preparation. The first ploughing is given immediately after harvest, or as soon as the wheat seed is finished, either in length or across the field, as circumstances may seem to require. In this state the ground remains till the oat seed is finished, when a second ploughing is given to it, usually in a contrary direction to the first. It is then repeatedly harrowed, often rolled between the harrowings and every particle of root-weeds carefully picked off with the hand; a third ploughing is then bestowed, and the other operations are repeated. In this stage, if the ground has not been very foul, the seed process generally commences, but often a fourth ploughing, sometimes a fifth is necessary before the ground is sufficiently clean. Less labor, however, is necessary now than in former times, when a more regular mode of cropping was commonly followed. The next part of the process is the sowing of the seed; this may be performed by drilling machines of different sizes and constructions, through all acting on the same principle. A machine drawn by a horse in a pair of shafts, sows two drills at a time and answers extremely well, where the ground is flat, and the drills properly made up. The weight of the machine ensures a regularity of sowing hardly to be gained by those of a different size and construction. From two to three pounds of seed are sown upon the acre (2 to 3 kg/hectare), though the smallest of these quantities will give many more plants in ordinary seasons than are necessary; but as the seed is not an expensive article the greater part of farmers incline to sow thick, which both provides against the danger of part of the seed perishing, and gives the young plants an advantage at the outset. Turnips are sown from the beginning to the end of June, but the second and third weeks of the month are, by judicious farmers, accounted the most proper time. Some people have sown as early as May, and with advantage, but these early fields are apt to run to seed before winter, especially if the autumn be favorable to vegetation. As a general rule it may be laid down that the earliest sowings should be on the latest soils; plants on such soils are often long before they make any great progress, and, in the end, may be far behind those in other situations, which were much later sown. The turnip plant, indeed, does not thrive rapidly till its roots reach the dung, and the previous nourishment afforded them is often so scanty as to stunt them altogether before they get so far. The first thing to be done in this process is to run a horse-hoe, called a scraper, along the intervals, keeping at such a distance from the young plants that they shall not be injured; this operation destroys all the annual weeds which have sprung up, and leaves the plants standing in regular stripes or rows. The hand hoeing then commences, by which the turnips are all singled out at a distance of from eight to twelve inches, and the redundant ones drawn into the spaces between the rows. The singling out of the young plants is an operation of great importance, for an error committed in this process can hardly be afterwards rectified. Boys and girls are always employed as hoers; but a steady and trusty man-servant is usually set over them to see that the work is properly executed. In eight or ten days, or such a length of time as circumstances may require, a horse-hoe of a different construction from the scraper is used. This, in fact, is generally a small plough, of the same kind with that commonly wrought, but of smaller dimensions. By this implement, the earth is pared away from the sides of the drills, and a sort of new ridge formed in the middle of the former interval. The hand-hoers are again set to work, and every weed and superfluous turnip is cut up; afterwards the horse-hoe is employed to separate the earth, which it formerly threw into the furrows, and lay it back to the sides of the drills. On dry lands this is done by the scraper, but where the least tendency to moisture prevails, the small plough is used, in order that the furrows may be perfectly cleaned out. This latter mode, indeed, is very generally practiced. It is believed in Persia that boiled turnip is good for colds. Boiled turnip can be eaten alone or with salt and pepper. It is also used in making aash (a kind of soup). The aroma of boiled turnips is good for sinus problems. Turnips are also popular in the Middle East, where they are pickled in vinegar with red beets which gives them a bright pink color.They are reffered to as "Kabis". Turnips are a popular food in Scotland, where they are known as "neeps". They are commonly mashed together with potatoes, and Haggis, the Scottish national dish, is typically served with mashed "neeps and tatties".
Macomber turnip historic marker The Macomber turnip is featured in one of the very few historic markers for a vegetable, on Main Road, in Westport, Massachusetts.
Spring greens Spring greens are a cultivar of Brassica oleracea in the cultivar Acephala Group, similar to kale, in which the central leaves do not form a head or form only a very loose one. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most other domesticated forms, and is grown primarily in northern Europe, where its tolerance of cold winters is valued for an early spring supply of edible leaves. The Cultivar Group Acephala also includes curly kale and collard greens, which are extremely similar genetically. The term is also used more loosely to refer to thinnings and trimmed-off leaves of other types of Brassica, including turnip and swede leaves, surplus thinned out young cabbage plants and leaves from cauliflower and brussels sprouts. In all cases, the leaves, being loose, are fully exposed to light, and so are dark green, coarse, often tough, and more strongly flavoured than many people prefer, but are also particularly rich in vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fibre, making them a very healthy food. Root vegetable Root vegetables are underground plant parts used as vegetables. They are called root vegetables for lack of a better generic term, but include both true roots such as tuberous roots and taproots, as well as non-roots such as tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs. Several types contain both taproot and hypocotyl tissue, and it may be difficult to distinguish the two. Regardless of anatomical type, root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of carbohydrate. Of particular economic importance are those with a high carbohydrate concentration in the form of starch. These starchy root vegetables are important staple foods, particularly in tropical regions. They overshadow the cereals throughout much of West Africa, Central Africa, and Oceania, where they are used directly or mashed to make foufou or poi.
Cassava tuberous roots External links - Root and tuber crops at the University of Georgia
- Wayne's Word
- Root vegetables gathering
Taro corms
Yam tubers
Shallot bulbs Retrieved from Category: Root vegetables Taproot From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The dandelion's taproot, quite apparent in this drawing, renders this plant very difficult to uproot – the plant itself gives way, but the root stays in the ground and may sprout again.
A taproot A plant's taproot is a straight tapering root that grows vertically down. It forms a center from which other roots sprout. Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant. The taproot is why dandelions are hard to uproot — the top is pulled, but the long taproot stays in the ground, and re-sprouts. A taproot system contrasts to a fibrous root system, with many branched roots. Most trees begin life with a taproot, but after one to a few years change to a wide-spreading fibrous root system with mainly horizontal surface roots and only a few vertical, deep anchoring roots. A typical mature tree 30-50 m tall has a root system that extends horizontally in all directions as far as the tree is tall or more, but well over 95% of the roots are in the top 50 cm depth of soil. Many taproots are modified to become storage organs. Some plants with taproots: - Carrot
- Burdock
- Dandelion
- Kudzu
- Parsnip
- Patterson's Curse
- Poppy mallow
- Radish
- Turnip
- Sturt's Desert Pea
- Welwitschia
Development It develops from the radicle of the seed. The radicle grows into the primary root or the taproot. It produces branches called the scondary roots. These branch to form secondary roots and they in turn produce branches to form tertiary roots. These may further branch to form rootlets.
Place a page title here
Use this general-purpose page to easily put together information that you don't need a specific template for. It's ideal for a page with several paragraphs of text.
Or, use it for a single Web Part such as a slideshow. Simply drag the Slideshow Web Part to a zone, add pictures from your Image Gallery, and you're done.
|