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Brassica napus

Authority	L.
Family	Magnoliopsida:Dilleniidae:Capparales:Cruciferae
Synonyms	B. napus L. ssp. napobrassica (L.) O. Schwarz, B. napus L. ssp. napus sensu Hämet-Ahti et al., B. napus L. ssp. oleifera (Moench) Metzg., B. napus L. var. oleifera (Moench) Delile (ssp. napus)
Common names	canola, colza, fodder rape, hungry gap kale, oil-seed rape, olraps, raapzaad, rape, rape seed, raps, rapsi, rutabaga, rypsi, Siberian kale, swede, swede rape, winter oil seed rape
Editor
Ecocrop code	549

Notes
DESCRIPTION: A herb, 0.5-2 m tall with a strongly branched stem. Basal leaves of flowering plant stalked, highest leaves sessile and clasping stem. Flowers with 11-15 mm long, pale to bright yellow petals. USES: The seeds are extracted for an oil used especially in margarine and for cooking. Newly bred cultivars with a high content of erucic acid are used for extraction of industrial oil. It is also used as a fodder crop. KILLING T.: Rape is resistant to frost at all stages of growth. Unhardened plants can survive -4°C, while fully-hardened spring type rapeseed can survive -10 to -12°C, and hardened winter rapeseed can survive short periods of exposure to -15 to -20°C. GROWING PERIOD: Annual or biennial herb. Spring cultivars growing 85-160 days, and winter cultivars 160-340 days. COMMON NAMES: Swede rape, Rape, Oil-seed rape, Argentine rape, Colza d'hiver, Colza d'ete. FURTHER INF.: B. napus var. oleifera (winter rape), B. napus var. oleifera subvar. annua (summer rape). Swede rape is native of Europe. It is a temperate crop but it can be grown in the tropics at elevations between 1500-2200 m. Yields of 2-4 t/ha are considered good, while yields of 0.5-2 t/ha are more usual.
Sources
Weiss E 183 pp 161-215 [TEMP, KTMP, LIG, RAIN, DRA, PH, SAL, TEXT, FER] Duke J 1979 pp 99 Roecklein J 1987 pp 350 [USE] Hartmann T 1981 pp 585 Dube P 1982 pp 10 Rehm S 1991 pp 114 Hackett C 1982 pp 51 Kernick M 1961 pp 348 Janick J 1991 pp 302 Westphal E 1989 pp 61-64 [USE, TEMP, KTMP, PHO, RAIN, DRA, PH, SAL]