Description Kohlrabi, Purple Vienna Kohlrabi is yet another member of the ubiquitous brassica family which includes cabbage, kale, collards, turnips, rutabagas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts are probably the only commonly known vegetables of northern European origin. Kohlrabi apparently developed from the marrow cabbage a wild form of cabbage which frequently grows on the English channel coast, in European coastal regions and on the Spanish penninsula. The marrow cabbage is a non-heading plant with a thick succulent stem. The first written record of kohlrabi was in 1554 by the botanist Matthiolus who wrote of the plant that it had “come lately into Italy”. By the end of the 16th century, kohlrabi was being grown in Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Tripoli and the eastern Mediterranean. There is no record of how the plant got to the Americas, but Bernard McMahon discusses it in 1806. The plant has sometimes been called the “stem turnip”. The name kohlrabi derives from German and means cabbage turnip.
