| Kerguelen cabbage | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Brassicaceae |
| Genus: | Pringlea T.Anderson exHook.f. |
| Species: | P. antiscorbutica |
| Binomial name | |
| Pringlea antiscorbutica R.Br. ex Hook.f. | |
Pringlea antiscorbutica, commonly known asKerguelen cabbage, is aflowering plant and the sole member of themonotypic genusPringlea in thefamilyBrassicaceae. Its common name comes from thearchipelago of its discovery, theKerguelen Islands, and itsgeneric name derives from SirJohn Pringle, president of theRoyal Society at the time of its discovery by CaptainJames Cook's Surgeon,William Anderson in 1776.
Despite its appearance and edibility, it is not related to the commonbroadleaf plantain.
Pringlea antiscorbutica has leaf rosettes of up to 45 cm (18 in) in diameter, that sit on top of perennial half woody stems of about 15 cm (6 in) thick and up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long. The erect flowering stems remain on the plants for many years.[1]
Pringlea antiscorbutica grows on the remoteHeard Island and McDonald Islands,Crozet,Prince Edward andKerguelen Islands.[2] The ancestor ofP. antiscorbutica probably migrated from South America some five million years ago.[3]
The home islands ofPringlea antiscorbutica are at roughly 50° south latitude and constantly buffeted by strong winds, making the islands unfavorable for wind pollination, except on infrequent mild days. This climate, plus the absence of potential insect pollinators, means the species can only survive through a process ofself-pollination.[2]
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The plants grow to a diameter of about 50 cm in around four years, and flower for the first time in their third or fourth year.[4] At the mature stage, this species exhibits several adaptations linked to cold tolerance such as highpolyamine levels.[5][6]Pringlea has a very high leaf water content (above 83%) and the waterflow from the root to the leaves is very easy, which is no problem since soil water content on the distribution area of Kerguelen cabbage is permanently high. This implies that successfully growing this species elsewhere is difficult.[7][8]
Pringlea antiscorbutica is edible, containing high levels ofpotassium. Its leaves contain a vitamin C–rich oil, a fact which, in the days of sailing ships, made it very attractive to sailors suffering fromscurvy,[8] hence the specific epithetantiscorbutica, which means "against scurvy" inLow Latin. It was essential to the diets of the whalers onKerguelen when pork, beef, orseal meat was used up. In May 1840, botanistJoseph Dalton Hooker was the first to make a technical analysis of the plant, and to assign the Latin name.[9]
Hooker also reported having eaten some soup that had been made with Kerguelen cabbage, and described the raw leaves as tasting likecress, the boiled leaves as tasting like "stale" cabbage, and the root as tasting likehorseradish.[10][8]
Themicropezid fly speciesCalycopteryx mosleyi is associated with this plant. Rabbits which were introduced on the Kerguelen around 1874, feed on the cabbage, and the plant is now limited to locations that cannot be accessed by them. Fortunately, rabbits are not present on all islands.[1]