maori-cabbage

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


the wild cabbage of NewZealand, Brassica spp., N.O. Cruciferae, said tobe descended from the cabbages planted by Captain Cook.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 206.:

«Every recollection of Cook is interesting. . . . But the chiefrecord of his having been on the island is the cabbage andturnip which he sowed in various places: these have spread andbecome quite naturalized, growing everywhere in the greatestabundance, and affording an inexhaustible supply of excellentvegetables.»

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,'p. 131:

«The only plant good to eat is Maori cabbage, and that is swedeturnip gone wild, from seed left by Captain Cook.»

1880. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,'vol. xiii. art. i. p. 31 [`On the Vegetable Food of theAncient New Zealanders']:

«The leaves of several smaller plants were also used asvegetables; but the use of these in modern times, or during thelast forty or fifty years, was commonly superseded by that ofthe extremely useful and favourite plant – – the Maori cabbage, Brassica oleracea, introduced by Cook (nani of theMaoris at the north, and rearea at the south), of which theycarefully sowed the seeds.»

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

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