Origin: Eastern Europe
Etymology: from old French caboche, “head.”

Anecdote: the Chinese word for cabbage means “soup spoon,” because of its round leaves.

Cruciferae family.
This edible garden plant has wide leaves that grow in a fan shape or at the top of a stalk. Unlike its relative, Swiss chard, its leaves are smoother and the veins more rigid.

Some Varieties

Green cabbage - Capitata
From the Italian cappuccio, meaning large head firm head, smooth leaves; dark green to blue green in colour; star of the first frosts.

White cabbage - Cabus alba Brunswick
Stonehead very pale green heads; smooth leaves;

Savoy cabbage - Sabauda
Curly, crinkly leaves ranging from olive green to dark green; round head.

Kale
The most nutrient dense vegetable you can eat

Red Cabbage - Rubra
Smooth leaves, hard head.

Romanesco
Pyramidal, fractal buds set in spirals, shaped like a peaked cap, pale green in color, deliciously nutty in flavor, sometimes associate with broccoli or cauliflower.

Brussels Sprouts
Miniature cabbages that grow in bunches on a rigid central stem.

Chinese Cabbage - - Po-Tsai
Also called Tango, Tip-Top, Kido, Monument
Unlike common head cabbage, Chinese cabbage is paunchy and elongated (it looks like a head of Romaine lettuce, but thicker), with wide thin white ribs around which extend the curly pale green leaves. Can be eaten raw, cooked, sautéed or grated.

Chinese Chard Cabbage - Bok Choy
Thick ribs; cooked like chard or spinach.

Nappa Cabbage
Very wide ribs; curly leaves grow around the rib.

Collard
This leafy, dark green, waxy plant is a little like a cabbage that doesn’t make a head.

 Kohlrabi
In German, kohlrabi is a “cabbage turnip” referring to the fact that it is in the cabbage family but forms an edible turnip-like bulb just above the soil line.