Broccoli

Brassica oleracea Italica Group · Cabbage family

Plant portrait

The green broccoli illustrated here, called calabrese in English gardening, forms a central head of closely packed flower buds among large leaves. It differs from sprouting broccoli with its smaller clusters.

Harvested part

The clusters of unopened flower buds and their tender stems.

What to watch for

Watch the head form and its small buds cluster together. Their opening into yellow flowers changes the head’s stage; the harvest model represents unopened buds rather than fruits.

Growth stages of the broccoli

Plotilo illustrates the broccoli in 5 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.

Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
Small sprout
A short first stem and its first small leaves emerge.
Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.

See the broccoli in 3D

Same botanical family

Same botanical family as the broccoli (the cabbage family): the radish, the cauliflower, the cabbage, the turnip, the Chinese cabbage, the Brussels sprout and 8 more plants from the catalogue. Gardeners usually avoid growing the same family in the same spot several years in a row: that is the idea behind crop rotation.