Stats

Lifespan: Biennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Coastal Western Europe
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Kale is a leafy cultivar group of Brassica oleracea — the same species as cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts — grown for its hearty, deeply ruffled or crinkled leaves. A hard frost actually sweetens the leaves by triggering the plant to convert stored starches into sugars, a trick gardeners call "frost kissing."

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Brassica
Species: Brassica oleracea