THE DEVELOPMENT OF TURNIP-TYPE AND OILSEED-TYPE BRASSICA RAPA CROPS FROM THE WILD-TYPE IN EUROPE - AN OVERVIEW OF BOTANICAL, HISTORICAL AND LINGUISTIC FACTS

Abstract

There is a lot of botanical, historical and linguistic evidence that the use of turnip-type Brassica rapa is very old in Europe. It was probably domesticated directly from its wild progenitor, the wildtype B. rapa. The use of European oilseed-type Brassica crops is relatively new. This paper gives a short overview on the history of B. rapa and presents botanical, historical and linguistic facts for a better understanding wild-, turnip- and oilseed-type B. rapa which will be useful for the interpretation of systematic and genetic work and future breeding.