CAULIFLOWER, a variety of the common kale or cabbage, affording one of the most esteemed delicacies of the table. It was cultivated as a culinary vegetable by the Greeks and Romans. Its culture was, however, little attended to in England till the end of the 17th c.; but after that time it rapidly increased, and prior to the French revolution, C. formed an article of export from England to Holland, whilst English C. seed is still preferred on the continent. The C. is entirely the product of cultivation. The leaves are not in this, as in other varieties of the same species generally, the part used, nor are they so delicate and fit for use as those of most of the others, but the flower-buds and their stalks, or. properly speaking, the inflorescence of the plant deformed by cultiva tion, and forming a head or compact mass generally of a white color. There are ninny subvarieties, but all of them are rather more tender than the ordinary forms of the species, and in Britain generally require more or less protection during winter, whilst the seed is sown on hotbeds, that the plants may be ready for planting out in spring.
Later sowings are made in the open ground. The C. requires a moist rich loamy soil, with abundance of manure, and above all, very careful cultivation, which is directed to the object of having the heads not merely large, but as compact of possible. Great care is bestowed on the selection of proper plants for seed. In Scotland, C. plants almost always require the protection of the frame during winter. C. may be preserved for some time fit for use by pulling the plant up by the roots, and hanging it in a cold and dry place.—Bnoccom (q.v.) may be regarded as another kind of cauliflower.