Plant Encyclopedia
Brassica rapa var. glabra (Chinese cabbage)
Japanese name: ハクサイ （白菜）
Scientific name: Brassica rapa var. glabra
[Overview]
An annual or biennial grown for its leaves as a vegetable.
Hakusai as a vegetable is said to originate in China, and there are heading and non-heading types; the type commonly seen in Japan is the heading type.
Leaves are alternate with serrate margins.
The flowers are borne in racemes at the stem tips and are yellow with 4 petals.
[History]
In Japan, the non-heading type arrived in Keio 2, at the end of the Edo period, and the heading type in Meiji 8.
[Cultivation]
Pests include aphids, cabbage worms and cutworms.
Details
Names
English: Chinese cabbage, nappa cabbage, hakusai, pe-tsai
Japanese: ハクサイ（白菜）
Japanese: ハクサイ（白菜）
Life form
Annual, Biennial
Habit
Terrestrial
Planting (or sowing) season
September, October
Leaf shape
Simple leaf
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Inflorescence
Raceme
Number of petals
4
Flower color
Yellow
Leaf color
Green
Availability of seeds and plants
Low
Form sold
Seeds, Seedlings
Sun exposure
Full sun
Soil needs
Required
Suitable uses
Flower bed, Container
Diseases
Soft rot, Downy mildew, White rust, Clubroot
Pests
Aphids, Cabbage worms, Armyworms, Pill bugs, Cutworms
Edible parts
Leaves
Uses
Edible
Relationship with animals
Food plant of the small white butterfly (Monshirocho)
Japan Flower Trade Code
43942
Translated from our Japanese encyclopedia. If anything differs, the Japanese page is correct.