USDA Brassica Collection

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Some brassica oleracea var. italica cultivars and landraces (Stansell and Björkman, 2020).

Brassica spp.are members of the family Brassicaceae, consisting of over 350 genera. The Brassica genus consists of many species including napus (rutabaga and rape), oleracea (broccoli, cabbage, kale, etc.), and rapa (turnip and Chinese cabbage). Brassica spp. are often biennial crops which require two seasons to produce seed.

There are over 2100 active accessions in the PGRU Brassica collection. We house 68 different botanical classes, with the most common being: oleracea var. capitata (red/white/green cabbage), oleracea var. botrytis (cauliflower), rapa subsp. pekinensis (napa cabbage), and oleracea var. viridis (collard). The collard collection was saved from seed-savers in the Southeastern United States by USDA-ARS scientist Mark Farnham and others. Read about some fascinating research evaluating the genetic diversity and breeding work done with the viridis collection!

Our brassica collection spans many decades, with our oldest accession added in 1936 and our newest addition from 2021. In our collection, a majority of our crops come from Asia.

Looking for plant germplasm? Review our distribution policy for germplasm requests

For more information on growing practices, head to the BRASSICA production page or visit the BRASSICA crop page in GRIN-Global to find citations, descriptor data, and genetic markers.

Interested in the future of Brassica? Read about our current research on their potential in vertical farming systems or learn more about the genomic and morphological domestication syndrome in Brassica!

Contact zachary.stansell@usda.gov for more information.

PGRU Brassica Accession Distribution 1987-2021

Data from GRIN-Global