5/ 5

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <h2><strong>Borettana Onion Seeds</strong></h2> <h2><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Price for Package of 125 (0.5 g) seeds.</span></strong></h2> <p><span>Borettana onion seeds are an heirloom variety originating around the town of Boretto in northern Italy. This is a small yellow storage onion with a unique flat top and squat, flattish, cipollini shape. Borettana will store for up to 5 months, and they braid well for attractive market displays. The flavour is strong and a little bit hot. The above ground tops are robust, and the skins are thick, allowing for good curing and drying for winter storage. Take time to cure these onions, and they should last in storage for months after harvest, remaining firm and flavourful.</span></p> <p>Plant 15 cm apart, 2 cm below surface Harvest when tops die off. The crop can be stored in a cool dry place, or diced and frozen. Perennial zones 3-9. </p>

MHS 107 (120 S)

5/ 5

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <h2><strong>Onion Seeds - Barletta Silverskin</strong></h2> <h2><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Price for Package of 50 seeds.</span></strong></h2> <p>Barletta Silverskin Onion produces small pure white silver-skinned onion that grows quickly for early cropping. Its mild flavor and firm texture make it ideal for all kinds of fresh use, cooking, salads, or pickling. Also great in a cream sauce for your holiday table.</p> <header class="page-header"> <div class="section-title"> <h1 class="page-title">How to grow onions and leeks</h1> </div> </header> <section class="section"> <div class="container container-small"> <div data-content-region="page_above_content"></div> <article class="page-content cms-page"> <p><span><strong>Onions</strong></span></p> <p><span>Italian onions are long-day onions. That means that they do best at higher latitudes (above 37 degrees or so — north of a line from southern Virginia to San Francisco).  While you can direct seed in the early spring, you will get the largest bulbs if you grow your own onion seedlings.  However, some varieties have done very well from direct seeding in our trial gardens.  Follow these simple techniques for perfect Italian onions.</span></p> <p><span><strong>For Transplants:</strong>  </span><span> Start your seedlings 10-12 weeks before the time you plan to set them out.  You can set them out in the early spring about two or three weeks before the last frost date.</span></p> <p><span>To start your seedlings, put a growing mix (either store-bought or homemade from 1/2 finely sifted peat, 1/2 finely sifted compost, and 1/2 handful of lime per bushel of mix) about 4 inches deep in a flat.  Wet mixture thoroughly.  Put your onion seed on top trying to space the seeds about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart.  Cover with 1/4 inch soil mix or preferably vermiculite.  Water again &amp; set seeds in a warm place.  As soon as they germinate, get them under grow lights.  You can begin to feed them a week or so after they have germinated. </span></p> <p><span>You want them to have plenty of space, so pull and discard any seedlings that are more than about 1/2 inch from the next one.  Allow keeping growing.  If they begin to get too tall, you can give them a 'haircut' with scissors.  Just snip off the top inch or two of the seedlings.  They will do fine.</span></p> <p><span>About a week to ten days before you plan to set them out, begin to harden them off by putting them outside in a sheltered place for a few hours.  Increase the time every day.  </span></p> <p><span>To plant out, have a well-dug bed with good fertility.  Onions benefit from the soil with high phosphorus content.  Plant them about three inches apart in rows set about 10 inches apart.  Keep well watered throughout the growing season.  Onions benefit from good fertile soil, so give your crop several side dressings.</span></p> <p><span><strong>GROWING YOUR OWN ONION SETS. </strong></span><span>This is really easy and makes life easier next spring.  Sow your seed for onion sets about three-four months before your expected hard frost.  Prepare a nice bed.  Add some good compost or 10-10-10 if you do not have any.  Rake well.  Scatter your onion seeds and try and get them about 1/4 inch apart.  Firm them down by hand and cover with 1/4 inch soil.  Keep well watered until they germinate and provide supplemental irrigation.  Just let them grow.  The tops will die back about the time the first frost is due.  After the first good frost, pull your onions, which should be about the size of a marble.  Store them in a cool dry place for a few weeks until they dry well.  Don't wash off any dirt.  Once well dried, pack them in mesh bags (save your old store-bought onion bags).  Don't put too many in a bag;  try about one pound per bad so that there is good air circulation.  Store over the winter in a cool dry place.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span><strong>GROWING ONION FROM SEEDS.  </strong></span><span> In the north, direct seed in a well-prepared bed about four weeks before the last frost date.  Try and get your onion seeds at least an inch apart.  You can either leave them on the surface or cover them with 1/4 inch or so of soil (better).  Onions should germinate in two weeks or so, perhaps earlier depending on the weather.  Keep them well watered.  </span></p> <p><span>Once they have germinated and grown to three or four inches, you can begin to start thinning them out.  Leave at least an inch between onions.  Pull any weeds.  Weeds will be the biggest problem you have grown from seed.  </span></p> <p><span>Barletta onions will be ready in early July, just in time to have them with the last of the spring peas.  Other onions will be ready in August and September.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span><strong>LEEKS</strong> </span></p> <p><span>Grow your seedlings just like onions.  The only difference is planting out.  Make a trench about four inches deep with your hoe.  Plant the leeks inside the trench.  As the leeks grow, push soil into the trench up against the leek.  When you run out of the trench, begin to mound up soil against the leeks.  You want at least six inches of the plant buried under the soil.  This is what is going to give you that nice white root.  Begin harvesting after the first frost.  Most leeks are incredibly cold hardy.  In zones 7 on up, you can just leave them.  Further North, cover them with some mulch (leaves, straw, etc) before the first hard freeze and you can harvest them all winter.</span></p> </article> </div> </section>

MHS 154 (50 S)

5/ 5

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <h2><strong>Goliath Giant Onion Seeds</strong></h2> <h2><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Price for a Package of 20 seeds.</span></strong></h2> <p>A highly productive variety that can be grown from seed. Its breeding time is long. Its bulbs grow very large, so they require a more growing area. The taste is pleasantly sweet, not pungent.</p> <p>It has a low dry matter content, a spherical onion, and light brown skin. It is suitable for fresh consumption and for making salads, it cannot be stored for a long time.</p> <header class="page-header"> <div class="section-title"> <h2 class="page-title"><strong>How to grow onions and leeks</strong></h2> <h1 class="page-title"><strong style="font-size: 14px;">Onions</strong></h1> <p class="page-title">Italian onions are long-day onions. That means that they do best at higher latitudes (above 37 degrees or so — north of a line from southern Virginia to San Francisco).  While you can direct seed in the early spring, you will get the largest bulbs if you grow your own onion seedlings.  However, some varieties have done very well from direct seeding in our trial gardens.  Follow these simple techniques for perfect Italian onions.</p> </div> </header> <section class="section"> <div class="container container-small"> <article class="page-content cms-page"> <p><span><strong>For Transplants:</strong>  </span><span> Start your seedlings 10-12 weeks before the time you plan to set them out.  You can set them out in the early spring about two or three weeks before the last frost date.</span></p> <p><span>To start your seedlings, put a growing mix (either store-bought or homemade from 1/2 finely sifted peat, 1/2 finely sifted compost, and 1/2 handful of lime per bushel of mix) about 4 inches deep in a flat.  Wet mixture thoroughly.  Put your onion seed on top trying to space the seeds about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart.  Cover with 1/4 inch soil mix or preferably vermiculite.  Water again &amp; set seeds in a warm place.  As soon as they germinate, get them under grow lights.  You can begin to feed them a week or so after they have germinated. </span></p> <p><span>You want them to have plenty of space, so pull and discard any seedlings that are more than about 1/2 inch from the next one.  Allow keeping growing.  If they begin to get too tall, you can give them a 'haircut' with scissors.  Just snip off the top inch or two of the seedlings.  They will do fine.</span></p> <p><span>About a week to ten days before you plan to set them out, begin to harden them off by putting them outside in a sheltered place for a few hours.  Increase the time every day.  </span></p> <p><span>To plant out, have a well-dug bed with good fertility.  Onions benefit from the soil with high phosphorus content.  Plant them about three inches apart in rows set about 10 inches apart.  Keep well watered throughout the growing season.  Onions benefit from good fertile soil, so give your crop several side dressings.</span></p> <p><span><strong>GROWING YOUR OWN ONION SETS. </strong></span><span>This is really easy and makes life easier next spring.  Sow your seed for onion sets about three-four months before your expected hard frost.  Prepare a nice bed.  Add some good compost or 10-10-10 if you do not have any.  Rake well.  Scatter your onion seeds and try and get them about 1/4 inch apart.  Firm them down by hand and cover with 1/4 inch soil.  Keep well watered until they germinate and provide supplemental irrigation.  Just let them grow.  The tops will die back about the time the first frost is due.  After the first good frost, pull your onions, which should be about the size of a marble.  Store them in a cool dry place for a few weeks until they dry well.  Don't wash off any dirt.  Once well dried, pack them in mesh bags (save your old store-bought onion bags).  Don't put too many in a bag;  try about one pound per bad so that there is good air circulation.  Store over the winter in a cool dry place.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span><strong>GROWING ONION FROM SEEDS.  </strong></span><span> In the north, direct seed in a well-prepared bed about four weeks before the last frost date.  Try and get your onion seeds at least an inch apart.  You can either leave them on the surface or cover them with 1/4 inch or so of soil (better).  Onions should germinate in two weeks or so, perhaps earlier depending on the weather.  Keep them well watered.  </span></p> <p><span>Once they have germinated and grown to three or four inches, you can begin to start thinning them out.  Leave at least an inch between onions.  Pull any weeds.  Weeds will be the biggest problem you have grown from seed.  </span></p> <p><span>Barletta onions will be ready in early July, just in time to have them with the last of the spring peas.  Other onions will be ready in August and September.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span><strong>LEEKS</strong> </span></p> <p><span>Grow your seedlings just like onions.  The only difference is planting out.  Make a trench about four inches deep with your hoe.  Plant the leeks inside the trench.  As the leeks grow, push soil into the trench up against the leek.  When you run out of the trench, begin to mound up soil against the leeks.  You want at least six inches of the plant buried under the soil.  This is what is going to give you that nice white root.  Begin harvesting after the first frost.  Most leeks are incredibly cold hardy.  In zones 7 on up, you can just leave them.  Further North, cover them with some mulch (leaves, straw, etc) before the first hard freeze and you can harvest them all winter.</span></p> </article> </div> </section>

MHS 155 (20 S)

5/ 5

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> </head> <body> <h2><strong>Stuttgarter Reisen Onion Seeds</strong></h2> <h2><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Price for Package of 125 (0.5 g) seeds.</span></strong></h2> <p>Stuttgarter Reisen is a tasty old favorite storage onion, and it's easy to see why. Producing medium-large yellow onions at maturity, the bulbs have a mild, smooth to the slightly pungent flavor that makes them ideal for fresh use, grilling, and cooking.</p> <p>They're also fantastic when sliced raw in salads or on sandwiches. Bulbs are uniformly sized with a slightly flattened shape.</p> <p>They're excellent storage onions and can be kept in storage for several months after harvest. For mild-tasting green onions, harvest onions about 2-4 weeks after planting.</p> <header class="page-header"> <div class="section-title"> <h2 class="page-title">How to grow onions and leeks</h2> <h1 class="page-title"><strong style="font-size: 14px;">Onions</strong></h1> <p class="page-title">Italian onions are long-day onions. That means that they do best at higher latitudes (above 37 degrees or so — north of a line from southern Virginia to San Francisco).  While you can direct seed in the early spring, you will get the largest bulbs if you grow your own onion seedlings.  However, some varieties have done very well from direct seeding in our trial gardens.  Follow these simple techniques for perfect Italian onions.</p> </div> </header> <section class="section"> <div class="container container-small"> <article class="page-content cms-page"> <p><span><strong>For Transplants:</strong>  </span><span> Start your seedlings 10-12 weeks before the time you plan to set them out.  You can set them out in the early spring about two or three weeks before the last frost date.</span></p> <p><span>To start your seedlings, put a growing mix (either store-bought or homemade from 1/2 finely sifted peat, 1/2 finely sifted compost, and 1/2 handful of lime per bushel of mix) about 4 inches deep in a flat.  Wet mixture thoroughly.  Put your onion seed on top trying to space the seeds about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart.  Cover with 1/4 inch soil mix or preferably vermiculite.  Water again &amp; set seeds in a warm place.  As soon as they germinate, get them under grow lights.  You can begin to feed them a week or so after they have germinated. </span></p> <p><span>You want them to have plenty of space, so pull and discard any seedlings that are more than about 1/2 inch from the next one.  Allow keeping growing.  If they begin to get too tall, you can give them a 'haircut' with scissors.  Just snip off the top inch or two of the seedlings.  They will do fine.</span></p> <p><span>About a week to ten days before you plan to set them out, begin to harden them off by putting them outside in a sheltered place for a few hours.  Increase the time every day.  </span></p> <p><span>To plant out, have a well-dug bed with good fertility.  Onions benefit from the soil with high phosphorus content.  Plant them about three inches apart in rows set about 10 inches apart.  Keep well watered throughout the growing season.  Onions benefit from good fertile soil, so give your crop several side dressings.</span></p> <p><span><strong>GROWING YOUR OWN ONION SETS. </strong></span><span>This is really easy and makes life easier next spring.  Sow your seed for onion sets about three-four months before your expected hard frost.  Prepare a nice bed.  Add some good compost or 10-10-10 if you do not have any.  Rake well.  Scatter your onion seeds and try and get them about 1/4 inch apart.  Firm them down by hand and cover with 1/4 inch soil.  Keep well watered until they germinate and provide supplemental irrigation.  Just let them grow.  The tops will die back about the time the first frost is due.  After the first good frost, pull your onions, which should be about the size of a marble.  Store them in a cool dry place for a few weeks until they dry well.  Don't wash off any dirt.  Once well dried, pack them in mesh bags (save your old store-bought onion bags).  Don't put too many in a bag;  try about one pound per bad so that there is good air circulation.  Store over the winter in a cool dry place.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span><strong>GROWING ONION FROM SEEDS.  </strong></span><span> In the north, direct seed in a well-prepared bed about four weeks before the last frost date.  Try and get your onion seeds at least an inch apart.  You can either leave them on the surface or cover them with 1/4 inch or so of soil (better).  Onions should germinate in two weeks or so, perhaps earlier depending on the weather.  Keep them well watered.  </span></p> <p><span>Once they have germinated and grown to three or four inches, you can begin to start thinning them out.  Leave at least an inch between onions.  Pull any weeds.  Weeds will be the biggest problem you have grown from seed.  </span></p> <p><span>Barletta onions will be ready in early July, just in time to have them with the last of the spring peas.  Other onions will be ready in August and September.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span><strong>LEEKS</strong> </span></p> <p><span>Grow your seedlings just like onions.  The only difference is planting out.  Make a trench about four inches deep with your hoe.  Plant the leeks inside the trench.  As the leeks grow, push soil into the trench up against the leek.  When you run out of the trench, begin to mound up soil against the leeks.  You want at least six inches of the plant buried under the soil.  This is what is going to give you that nice white root.  Begin harvesting after the first frost.  Most leeks are incredibly cold hardy.  In zones 7 on up, you can just leave them.  Further North, cover them with some mulch (leaves, straw, etc) before the first hard freeze and you can harvest them all winter.</span></p> </article> </div> </section> </body> </html>

MHS 156 (120 S)

5/ 5

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> </head> <body> <div id="idTab1" class="rte"> <h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Birch Tree Seeds (Betula)</strong></span></h2> <h2><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Price for Package of 100 seeds.</strong></span></h2> <div>Birch is a broadleaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula (/ˈbɛtjʊlə/),[1]in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams, and is closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The genus Betula contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Red List of Threatened Species. They are typically rather short-lived pioneer species widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in northern temperate and boreal climates. This tree is sometimes called "The Watchful Tree" because of eye-like impressions on the bark.</div> <div>Etymology</div> <div>The common name birch comes from Old English birce, bierce, from Proto-Germanic*berk-jōn (cf. German Birke, West Frisian bjirk), an adjectival formation from *berkōn(cf. Dutch berk, Low German Bark, Norwegian bjørk), itself from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰerHǵ- ~ bʰrHǵ-, which also gave Lithuanian béržas, Ukrainian beréza, Albanian bredh ‘fir’, Ossetian bærz(æ), Sanskrit bhurja, Latin fraxinus ‘ash (tree)’. This root is presumably derived from *bʰreh₁ǵ- ‘to shine’, in reference to the birch's white bark. The Proto-Germanic runeberkanan is named after the birch.</div> <div>The generic name betula is from Latin, which is a diminutive borrowed from Gaulish betua (cf. Old Irish bethe, Welsh bedw).</div> <div><strong>Description</strong></div> <div>Birch species are generally small to medium-sized trees or shrubs, mostly of temperate climates. The simple leaves are alternate, singly or doubly serrate, feather-veined, petiolate and stipulate. They often appear in pairs, but these pairs are really borne on spur-like, two-leaved, lateral branchlets.[2] The fruit is a small samara, although the wings may be obscure in some species. They differ from the alders (Alnus, other genus in the family) in that the female catkins are not woody and disintegrate at maturity, falling apart to release the seeds, unlike the woody, cone-like female alder catkins.</div> <div>The bark of all birches is characteristically marked with long, horizontal lenticels, and often separates into thin, papery plates, especially upon the paper birch. It is resistant to decay, due to the resinous oil it contains. Its decided color gives the common names gray, white, black, silverand yellow birch to different species.</div> <div>The buds form early and are full grown by midsummer, all are lateral, no terminal bud is formed; the branch is prolonged by the upper lateral bud. The wood of all the species is close-grained with satiny texture, and capable of taking a fine polish; its fuel value is fair.</div> <div><strong>Flower and fruit</strong></div> <div>The flowers are monoecious, opening with or before the leaves and borne once fully grown these leaves are usually 3–6 millimetres (0.12–0.24 in) long on three-flowered clusters in the axils of the scales of drooping or erect catkins or aments. Staminate aments are pendulous, clustered or solitary in the axils of the last leaves of the branch of the year or near the ends of the short lateral branchlets of the year. They form in early autumn and remain rigid during the winter. The scales of the staminate aments when mature are broadly ovate, rounded, yellow or orange color below the middle, dark chestnut brown at apex. Each scale bears two bractlets and three sterile flowers, each flower consisting of a sessile, membranaceous, usually two-lobed, calyx. Each calyx bears four short filaments with one-celled anthers or strictly, two filaments divided into two branches, each bearing a half-anther. Anther cells open longitudinally. The pistillate aments are erect or pendulous, solitary; terminal on the two-leaved lateral spur-like branchlets of the year. The pistillate scales are oblong-ovate, three-lobed, pale yellow green often tinged with red, becoming brown at maturity. These scales bear two or three fertile flowers, each flower consisting of a naked ovary. The ovary is compressed, two-celled, and crowned with two slender styles; the ovule is solitary.</div> <div><strong>Ecology</strong></div> <div>Birches often form even-aged stands on light, well-drained, particularly acidic soils. They are regarded as pioneer species, rapidly colonising open ground especially in secondary successional sequences following a disturbance or fire. Birches are early tree species to establish in primary successions, and can become a threat to heathland if the seedlings and saplings are not suppressed by grazing or periodic burning. Birches are generally lowland species, but some species, such as Betula nana, have a montane distribution. In the British Isles, there is some difference between the environments of Betula pendula andBetula pubescens, and some hybridization, though both are "opportunists in steady-state woodland systems". Mycorrhizal fungi, including sheathing (ecto)myccorhizas, are found in some cases to be beneficial to tree growth.[3]</div> <div>Birch foliage is used as a food plant by the larvae of a large number oflepidopteran (butterflies and moths) species.</div> <div><strong>Uses</strong></div> <div>Due to the hardness of Birch, it is better to shape it with power tools, as it is quite difficult to work it with hand tools.[4]</div> <div>• Birch wood is fine-grained and pale in colour, often with an attractive satin-likesheen. Ripple figuring may occur, increasing the value of the timber for veneerand furniture-making. The highly decorative Masur (or Karelian) birch, fromBetula verrucosa var. carelica, has ripple textures combined with attractive dark streaks and lines. Birch wood is suitable for veneer, and birch plywood is among the strongest and most dimensionally stable plywoods, although it is unsuitable for exterior use.</div> <div>• Birch plywood is made from laminations of birch veneer. It is light but strong, and has many other good properties. Birch plywood is used to make longboards(skateboard), giving it a strong yet flexible ride. It is also used (often in very thin grades with many laminations) for making model aircraft.</div> <div>• Extracts of birch are used for flavoring or leather oil, and in cosmetics such assoap or shampoo. In the past, commercial oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) was made from the sweet birch (Betula lenta).</div> <div>• Birch-tar or Russian oil extracted from birch bark is thermoplastic and waterproof; it was used as a glue on, for example, arrows, and also for medicinal purposes.[5]</div> <div>• Fragrant twigs of silver birch are used in saunas to relax the muscles.</div> <div>• Birch is also associated with the feast of Pentecost in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, and Russia, where its branches are used as decoration for churches and homes on this day.</div> <div>• Birch leaves are used to make a diuretic tea and extracts for dyes and cosmetics.</div> <div>• Ground birch bark, fermented in sea water, is used for seasoning the woolen, hemp or linen sails and hemp rope of traditional Norwegian boats.</div> <div>• Birch twigs bound in a bundle, also called birch, were used for birching, a form ofcorporal punishment.</div> <div>• Many of the indians of North America prized the birch for its bark, which due to its light weight, flexibility, and the ease with which it could be stripped from fallen trees, was often used for the construction of strong, waterproof but lightweightcanoes, bowls, and wigwams.</div> <div>• The Hughes H-4 Hercules was made mostly of birch wood, despite its better-known moniker, "The Spruce Goose".</div> <div>• Birch plywood was specified by the BBC as the only wood that can be used in making the cabinets of the long-lived LS3/5A loudspeaker.[6]</div> <div>• Birch is used as firewood due to its high calorific value per unit weight and unit volume. It burns well, without popping, even when frozen and freshly hewn. The bark will burn very well even when wet because of the oils it contains. With care, it can be split into very thin sheets that will ignite from even the smallest of sparks.</div> <div>• Birch sap is a traditional drink in Northern Europe, Russia, and Northern China. The sap is also bottled and sold commercially. Birch sap can be used to make birch syrup, which is used like maple syrup for pancakes and waffles. Birch wood can be used to smoke foods.</div> <div>• Birch seeds are used as leaf litter in miniature terrain models.[7]</div> <div>• "Birch flowers" is the English marketing name for the catkins of the Broussonetia luzonica tree. Known in the Philippinesas himbabao or alukon, these flowers are commonly used in the cuisine of northeastern Luzon. However, despite their English name and the similar appearance of their flowers, B. luzonica is not in any way related to the birch tree.[8]</div> <div>• Birch oil is used in the manufacture of Russia leather, a water-resistant leather.</div> <div><strong>Medical</strong></div> <div>• Birch bark is high in betulin and betulinic acid, phytochemicals which have potential as pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals which show promise as industrial lubricants.</div> <div>• Birch buds are used in folk medicine.[9]</div> <div>• Birch bark can be soaked until moist in water, and then formed into a cast for a broken arm.[10]</div> <div>• The inner bark of birch can be ingested safely.</div> <div>• In northern latitudes, birch is considered to be the most important allergenic tree pollen, with an estimated 15–20% ofhay fever sufferers sensitive to birch pollen grains. The major allergen is a protein called Bet v I.</div> <div><strong>Paper</strong></div> <div>Wood pulp made from birch gives relatively long and slender fibres for a hardwood. The thin walls cause the fibre to collapse upon drying, giving a paper with low bulk and low opacity. The birch fibres are, however, easily fibrillated and give about 75% of the tensile strength of softwood[clarification needed].[11] The low opacity makes it suitable for making glassine.</div> <div>In India, the birch (Sanskrit: भुर्ज, bhurja) holds great historical significance in the culture of North India, where the thin bark coming off in winter was extensively used as writing paper. Birch paper (Sanskrit: भुर्ज पत्र, bhurja patra) is exceptionally durable and was the material used for many ancient Indian texts.[12][13] The Roman periodVindolanda tablets also use birch as a material on which to write and birch bark was used widely in ancient Russia as note paper (beresta) and for decorative purposes and even making footwear.</div> <div><strong>Tonewood</strong></div> <div>Baltic birch is among the most sought-after wood in the manufacture of speaker cabinets. Birch has a natural resonance that peaks in the high and low frequencies, which are also the hardest for speakers to reproduce. This resonance compensates for the roll-off of low and high frequencies in the speakers, and evens the tone. Birch is known for having "natural EQ".[citation needed]</div> <div>Drums are often made from birch. Prior to the 1970s, it was one of the most popular drum woods. Because of the need for greater volume and midrange clarity, drums were made almost entirely from maple until recently[clarification needed], when advances in live sound reinforcement and drum microphones have allowed the use of birch in high-volume situations. Birch drums have a natural boost in the high and low frequencies, which allows the drums to sound fuller.</div> <div>Birch wood is sometimes used as a tonewood for semiacoustic and acoustic guitar bodies, and occasionally for solid-body guitar bodies. It is also a common material used in mallets for keyboard percussion.</div> <div><strong>Culture</strong></div> <div>• Birches have spiritual importance in several religions, both modern and historical.</div> <div>• In Celtic cultures, the birch symbolises growth, renewal, stability, initiation and adaptability. The birch is highly adaptive and able to sustain harsh conditions with casual indifference. Proof of this adaptability is seen in its easy and eager ability to repopulate areas damaged by forest fires or clearings.</div> <div>• The Czech word for the month of March, Březen, is derived from the Czech word bříza meaning birch, as birch trees flower in March under local conditions.</div> <div>• They are also associated with the Tír na nÓg, the land of the dead and the Sidhe, in Gaelic folklore, and as such frequently appear in Scottish, Irish, and English folksongs and ballads in association with death, or fairies, or returning from the grave.</div> <div>• It is also New Hampshire's state tree.</div> <div>• Robert Frost, an American poet, pays homage to the act of climbing birch trees in one of his more famous poems, "Birches."</div> <div>• In the Swedish city of Umeå, the silver birch tree has a special place. In 1888, the Umeå city fire spread all over the city and nearly burnt it down to the ground, but some birches, supposedly, halted the spread of the fire. To protect the city against future fires, it was decided to plant silver birch trees all over the city. Umeå later adopted the unofficial name of "City of the Birches (Björkarnas stad)". Also, the ice hockey team of Umeå is called Björklöven, translated to English "The Birch Leaves".</div> <div>• National Tree of Finland and Russia.</div> <div>• The leaves of the silver birch tree are used in the festival of St George, held in Novosej and other villages in Albania.</div> </div> </body> </html>

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<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> </head> <body> <h2><strong>Osage Orange Seeds (Maclura pomifera)</strong></h2> <h2><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #ff0000;">Price for Package of 10 seeds.</span></span></strong></h2> <p>M. pomifera has been known by a variety of common names in addition to Osage orange, including hedge apple, horse apple, bois d'arc, bodark, bow-wood, yellow-wood and mock orange.</p> <p>Maclura pomifera, commonly known as the Osage orange, is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically growing to 8 to 15 metres (30–50 ft) tall. The distinctive fruit, from a multiple fruit family, is roughly spherical, bumpy, 8 to 15 centimetres (3–6 in) in diameter, and turns a bright yellow-green in the fall. The fruits exude a sticky white latex when cut or damaged. Despite the name "Osage orange", it is only very distantly related to the orange, and is instead a member of the mulberry family, Moraceae.</p> <p><strong>History</strong></p> <p>The earliest account of the tree in the English language was given by William Dunbar, a Scottish explorer, in his narrative of a journey made in 1804 from St. Catherine's Landing on the Mississippi River to the Ouachita River. It was a curiosity when Meriwether Lewis sent some slips and cuttings to President Jefferson in March 1804. According to Lewis's letter, the samples were donated by "Mr. Peter Choteau, who resided the greater portion of his time for many years with the Osage Nation." Those cuttings did not survive, but later the thorny Osage orange tree was widely naturalized throughout the United States. In 1810, Bradbury relates that he found two trees growing in the garden of Pierre Chouteau, one of the first settlers of St. Louis, apparently the same person.</p> <p>The trees acquired the name bois d'arc, or "bow-wood", from early French settlers who observed the wood being used for war clubs and bow-making by Native Americans.[8] Meriwether Lewis was told that the people of the Osage Nation, "So much … esteem the wood of this tree for the purpose of making their bows, that they travel many hundreds of miles in quest of it."[10] Many modern archers assert the wood of the Osage orange is superior even to English Yew for this purpose, though this opinion is by no means unanimous.[citation needed] The trees are also known as "bodark" or "bodarc" trees, most likely originating from a corruption of "bois d'arc." The Comanches also used this wood for their bows. It was popular with them because it was strong, flexible and durable, and was common along river bottoms of the Comanchería. Some historians believe that the high value this wood had to Native Americans throughout North America for the making of bows, along with its small natural range, contributed to the great wealth of the Spiroan Mississippian culture that controlled all the land in which these trees grew.</p> <p><strong>Etymology</strong></p> <p>The genus Maclura is named in honor of William Maclure (1763–1840), a Scottish-born American geologist. The specific epithet pomifera means "fruit-bearing". The common name Osage derives from Osage Native Americans from whom young plants were first obtained, as told in the notes of Meriwether Lewis in 1804.</p> <p><strong>General habit</strong></p> <p>Mature trees range from 12 to 18 metres (40–60 ft) tall with short trunks and round-topped canopies. The roots are thick, fleshy, and covered with bright orange bark. The tree's mature bark is dark, deeply furrowed and scaly.</p> <p>The wood of M. pomifera is bright orange-yellow with paler yellow sapwood. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and flexible, capable of receiving a fine polish and very durable in contact with the ground. It has a specific gravity of 0.7736, or 773.6 kg/m3 (48.29 lb/cu ft).</p> <p><strong>Leaves and branches</strong></p> <p>Leaves are arranged alternately in a slender growing shoot 90 to 120 centimetres (3–4 ft) long. In form they are simple, a long oval terminating in a slender point. The leaves are 8 to 13 centimetres (3–5 in) long and 5 to 8 centimetres (2–3 in) wide, and are thick, firm, dark green, shining above, and paler green below when full grown. In autumn they turn bright yellow. The leaf axils contain formidable spines which when mature are about 2.5 centimetres (1 in) long.</p> <p>Branchlets are at first bright green and pubescent; during their first winter they become light brown tinged with orange, and later they become a paler orange brown. Branches contain a yellow pith, and are armed with stout, straight, axillary spines. During the winter, the branches bear lateral buds that are depressed-globular, partly immersed in the bark, and pale chestnut brown in color.</p> <p><strong>Flowers and fruit</strong></p> <p>As a dioecious plant, the inconspicuous pistillate (female) and staminate (male) flowers are found on different trees. Staminate flowers are pale green, small, and arranged in racemes borne on long, slender, drooping peduncles developed from the axils of crowded leaves on the spur-like branchlets of the previous year. They feature a hairy, four-lobed calyx; the four stamens are inserted opposite the lobes of calyx, on the margin of a thin disk. Pistillate flowers are borne in a dense spherical many-flowered head which appears on a short stout peduncle from the axils of the current year's growth. Each flower has a hairy four-lobed calyx with thick, concave lobes that invest the ovary and enclose the fruit. Ovaries are superior, ovate, compressed, green, and crowned by a long slender style covered with white stigmatic hairs. The ovule is solitary.</p> <p>The mature fruit's size and general appearance resemble a large, yellow-green orange, 10 to 13 centimeters (4–5 in) in diameter, with a roughened and tuberculated surface. The compound fruit is a syncarp of numerous small drupes, in which the carpels (ovaries) have grown together. Each small drupe is oblong, compressed, and rounded; they contain a milky juice that oozes when the fruit is damaged or cut. The seeds are oblong. Although the flowering is dioecious, the pistillate tree when isolated will still bear large oranges, perfect to the sight but lacking the seeds.</p> <p><strong>Distribution</strong></p> <p>Osage orange's pre-Columbian range was largely restricted to the Red River drainage of Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, as well as the Blackland Prairies and Post Oak Savannas. A disjunct population also occurred in the Chisos Mountains of Texas.[13] It has since become widely naturalized in the United States and Ontario. Osage orange has been planted in all the 48 conterminous States and in southeastern Canada.</p> <p>The largest Osage orange tree is located at River Farm, in Alexandria, Virginia, and is believed to have been a gift from Thomas Jefferson.[14] Another historic tree is located on the grounds of Fort Harrod, a Kentucky pioneer settlement in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.</p> <p><strong>Ecological aspects of the historical distribution</strong></p> <p>The natural mechanism of seed dispersal for Osage orange, and the reason for its limited historical range despite its adaptability, has been the subject of debate. One hypothesis is that the Osage orange fruit was eaten by a giant ground sloth that became extinct shortly after the first human settlement of North America. Other extinct Pleistocene megafauna, such as the mammoth, mastodon and gomphothere, may have fed on the fruit and aided in seed dispersal.[12][16] An equine species that became extinct at the same time also has been suggested as the plant's original dispersal agent because modern horses and other livestock will sometimes eat the fruit.[17] However, a 2015 study indicated that Osage orange seeds are not effectively spread by horses or elephant species.</p> <p>The fruit is not poisonous to humans or livestock, as shown by several studies.[19] However, it is mostly inedible due to its taste and its extremely hard texture. The seeds of the fruit are edible and it is sometimes torn apart by squirrels to get at the seeds, but few other native animals make use of it as a food source. This is unusual, as many large fleshy fruits serve the function of seed dispersal by means of their consumption by large animals.</p> <p><strong>Cultivation</strong></p> <p>M. pomifera prefers a deep and fertile soil, but it is able to adapt to be hardy over most of the contiguous United States, where it is used as a hedge plant. It must be regularly pruned to keep it in bounds, and the shoots of a single year will grow one to two metres (3–6 ft) long. A neglected hedge will soon become fruit-bearing. It is remarkably free from insect enemies and fungal diseases.[8] A thornless male cultivar of the species exists and is vegetatively reproduced for ornamental use.[13] M. pomifera is cultivated in Italy, former Yugoslavia, Romania, former USSR, and India.</p> <p><strong>Chemistry</strong></p> <p>Maclura pomifera contains an agglutinin, a lectin, that is highly specific toward the T-antigen.</p> <p>Osajin and pomiferin are flavonoid pigments present in the wood and fruit, comprising about 10% of the fruit's dry weight. The plant also contains the flavonol morin.</p> <p>Primary components of fresh fruit include pectin (46.04%), resin (16.64%), fat (5.16%), and sugar (before hydrolysis, 4.46%). Alkaloids, glucosides, titratable acids, and vitamin C are also present. Moisture content of fresh fruits is about 80%.</p> <p><strong>Uses</strong></p> <p>This tree, felled in 1954, exhibits very little rot after 62 years.</p> <p>The Osage orange is commonly used as a tree row windbreak in prairie states, which gives it one of its colloquial names, "hedge apple". It was one of the primary trees used in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Great Plains Shelterbelt" WPA project, which was launched in 1934 as an ambitious plan to modify weather and prevent soil erosion in the Great Plains states, and by 1942 resulted in the planting of 30,233 shelterbelts containing 220 million trees that stretched for 18,600 miles (29,900 km).[23] The sharp-thorned trees were also planted as cattle-deterring hedges before the introduction of barbed wire and afterward became an important source of fence posts.[7][24] In 2001, its wood was used in the construction in Chestertown, Maryland of the Schooner Sultana, a replica of the HMS Sultana (1768).</p> <p>The heavy, close-grained yellow-orange wood is very dense and is prized for tool handles, treenails, fence posts, and other applications requiring a strong dimensionally stable wood that withstands rot.[26] Although its wood is commonly knotty and twisted, straight-grained Osage orange timber makes very good bows. In Arkansas, in the early 19th century, a good Osage bow was worth a horse and a blanket.[8] Additionally, a yellow-orange dye can be extracted from the wood, which can be used as a substitute for fustic and aniline dyes. At present, florists use the fruits of M. pomifera for decorative purposes.</p> <p>When dried, the wood has the highest BTU content of any commonly available North American wood, and burns long and hot.</p> <p>Unlike many woods, Osage orange wood is very durable in contact with the ground. Smaller logs make good fence posts, being both strong and durable. They are generally set up green because the dried wood is too hard to reliably accept the staples used to attach the fencing to the posts. Palmer and Fowler's Fieldbook of Natural History 2nd edition rates Osage orange wood as being 2.5 times as hard as white oak (Quercus alba) and having twice the tensile strength.</p> <p>Although Osage oranges are commonly believed to repel insects, there is insufficient evidence to support this. Research has shown that compounds extracted from the fruit, when concentrated, may repel insects. However, the naturally occurring concentrations of these compounds in the fruit are far too low to make the fruit an effective insect repellent.  In 2004, the EPA insisted that a website selling M. pomifera fruits online removes any mention of their supposed pesticidal properties as false advertisements.</p> <p><strong>Traditional medicine</strong></p> <p>The Comanche tribe historically utilized a root/water infusion for eye conditions. Other folk uses of the plant include its use by Native Americans as a cancer treatment; in Bolivia, the plant's sap has been used to treat tooth pain, and the bark and leaves are used to treat uterine bleeding.</p> <p>Isoflavones within Osage orange may cause stomach irritation.</p> </body> </html>

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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <h2><strong>Spanish broom Seeds (Spartium junceum)</strong></h2> <h2><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Price for Package of 10 seeds.</strong></span></h2> <p>Spartium junceum, the Spanish broom, rush broom, or weaver's broom, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae.</p> <p>It is the sole species in the genus Spartium, but is closely related to the other brooms in the genera Cytisus and Genista. There are many binomials in Spartium that are of dubious validity (see below).</p> <p>The Latin specific epithet junceum means "rush-like", referring to the shoots, which show a passing resemblance to those of the rush genus Juncus.</p> <p>Distribution and habitat<br />This species is native to the Mediterranean in southern Europe, southwest Asia, and northwest Africa, where it is found in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils.</p> <p>Description<br />S. junceum is a vigorous, deciduous shrub growing to 2–4 m (7–13 ft) tall, rarely 5 m (16 ft), with main stems up to 5 cm (2 in) thick, rarely 10 cm (4 in). It has thick, somewhat succulent grey-green rush-like shoots with very sparse small deciduous leaves 1 to 3 cm long and up to 4 mm broad. The leaves are of little importance to the plant, with much of the photosynthesis occurring in the green shoots (a water-conserving strategy in its dry climate). The leaves fall away early.[9] In late spring and summer shoots are covered in profuse fragrant yellow pea-like flowers 1 to 2 cm across. In late summer, the legumes (seed pods) mature black and reach 8–10 cm (3–4 in) long. They burst open, often with an audible crack, spreading seed from the parent plant.</p> <p>Invasive species<br />Spartium junceum has been widely introduced into other areas and is regarded as a noxious invasive species in places with a Mediterranean climate such as California and Oregon, Hawaii, central Chile, southeastern Australia, the Western Cape in South Africa and the Canary Islands and Azores. It was first introduced to California as an ornamental plant.</p> <p><strong>Uses</strong><br />The plant is used as an ornamental plant in gardens and in landscape plantings. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.</p> <p>In Bolivia and Peru, the plant is known as retama, (not to be confused with the genus Retama), and has become very well established in some areas. It is one of the most common ornamental plants, often seen growing along sidewalks in La Paz.</p> <p>Retama has made its way into the ethnobotany of the indigenous Aymara and Quechua cultures.</p> <p>The plant is also used as a flavoring, and for its essential oil, known as genetic absolute. Its fibers have been used for cloth and it produces a yellow dye.</p>

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<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> </head> <body> <h2><strong>Jerusalem thorn, Christ's thorn Seeds (Paliurus spina-christi)</strong></h2> <h2><span style="color: #f60303; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Price for Package of 10 seeds.</strong></span></h2> <p><i><b>Paliurus spina-christi</b></i><span>, commonly known as </span><b>Jerusalem thorn</b><span>, </span><b>garland thorn</b><span>, </span><b>Christ's thorn</b><span>, or </span><b>crown of thorns</b><span>, is a species of </span><i>Paliurus</i><span> native to the </span>Mediterranean region<span> and southwest and central </span>Asia<span>, from </span>Morocco<span> and </span>Spain<span> east to </span>Iran<span> and </span>Tajikistan<span>.</span></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Description">Description</span></h2> <p>It is a<span> </span>deciduous<span> </span>shrub<span> </span>or small<span> </span>tree<span> </span>growing to 3–4 m tall. The shoots are zig-zagged, with a<span> </span>leaf<span> </span>and two<span> </span>stipular<span> </span>spines<span> </span>(one straight, one curved) on the outside of each kink. The<span> </span>leaves<span> </span>are oval, 2–5 cm long and 1–4 cm broad, glossy green, with an entire margin. The<span> </span>fruit<span> </span>is a dry woody nutlet centered in a circular wing 2–3.5 cm diameter.</p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Etymology">Etymology</span></h2> <p>As suggested by the Latin name and by an ancient oral tradition<sup class="noprint Inline-Template">[<i><span title="By whom? (May 2019)">clarification needed</span></i>]</sup>, the spiny branches of this shrub were supposedly used to make the<span> </span>crown of thorns<span> </span>placed on<span> </span>Christ's head before his crucifixion.<span> </span><i>Ziziphus spina-christi</i>, the Christ's thorn jujube, is also identified as being used for the crown of thorns.</p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Use">Use</span></h2> <p>It is viewed as an ornamental curiosity and is cultivated in some areas, spreading its range, including Fiji.</p> <p>As a medicinal herb (medicinal plant), the fruit of the bush is used, which contains alkaloids and tannins and is mostly appreciated for its anti-inflammatory and antiseptic, antispasmodic, expectorant, astringent and diuretic abilities.</p> <p>Galen recommended it for bladder stones. The decoction of dried fruit (1 tablespoon / 500ml water, boil for 10 minutes and strain) is consumed for cough, asthma, diarrhea, hypertension, cleansing the blood of inflammation. Combines perfectly with common flaxseed (Linum), linden (Tília cordáta), prímula véris, Plantágo major, Salvia officinalis, Malva sylvestris and asthma acute) bronchitis. It is thought to have a laxative effect on the large intestine while fighting deforming arthritis - which is why it is often consumed by the elderly. Externally it seems to help especially in the treatment of eczema foci thanks to its anti-inflammatory action.</p> <p>Note: The above presentation of the plant is by no means a recipe. Expert advice is considered necessary before using the plant.</p> </body> </html>

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<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> </head> <body> <h2><strong>Silverberry wolf-willow seeds (Elaeagnus commutata)</strong></h2> <h2><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Price for Package of 5 seeds.</strong></span></h2> <p><i><b>Elaeagnus commutata</b></i>, the<span> </span><b>silverberry</b><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"></sup><span> </span>or<span> </span><b>wolf-willow</b>, is a species of<span> </span><i>Elaeagnus</i><span> </span>native to western and boreal<span> </span>North America, from southern<span> </span>Alaska<span> </span>through<span> </span>British Columbia<span> </span>east to<span> </span>Quebec, south to<span> </span>Utah, and across the upper<span> </span>Midwestern United States<span> </span>to<span> </span>South Dakota<span> </span>and western<span> </span>Minnesota.<sup id="cite_ref-grin_2-0" class="reference"></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"></sup><span> </span>It typically grows on dry to moist sandy and gravel soils in steppes, meadows or woodland edges.<sup id="cite_ref-bc_4-0" class="reference"></sup></p> <p>These plants are<span> </span>shrubs<span> </span>or small<span> </span>trees<span> </span>growing to 1–4 m tall. The<span> </span>leaves<span> </span>are broad lanceolate, 2–7 cm long, silvery on both sides with dense small white scales. The fragrant<span> </span>flowers<span> </span>are yellow, with a four-lobed corolla 6–14 mm long. The<span> </span>fruits<span> </span>are ovoid<span> </span>drupes<span> </span>9–12 mm long, also covered in silvery scales. The fruit pulp is floury in texture and surrounds the single<span> </span>seed.<sup id="cite_ref-bc_4-1" class="reference"></sup></p> <p>The species is cultivated as an<span> </span>ornamental plant<span> </span>for its silvery foliage.</p> <p>Both the fruit and seeds of this plant are edible either cooked or raw. The fruit is very astringent unless it is fully ripe. The fruit is a very rich source of vitamins and minerals especially A, C, and E. As well it is a fairly good source of essential fatty acids. These fats are rarely found in fruits.<sup id="cite_ref-pfaf.org_5-0" class="reference"></sup><span> </span>This plant, like legumes, is able to fix nitrogen. When grown in orchards as a companion plant, it has been documented to increase fruit production by ten percent. Traditionally the fibrous bark of this tree has been twisted to make strong ropes and woven into clothing and blankets<span> </span><sup id="cite_ref-pfaf.org_5-1" class="reference"></sup></p> <p>Sharp-tailed grouse and songbirds eat the fruits.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"></sup><span> </span>This plant is a food source for sharp-tailed grouse in the winter.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"></sup><span> </span>Silverberry is an important food for wildlife and it provides over one-quarter of the diet for moose during winter in Montana. It also provides food for deer and elk. It provides cover and nesting sites for mallards and many passerine birds in North Dakota<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"></sup><span> </span>"In rough fescue grasslands, silverberry at 1,000 stems per acre increases forage production."</p> </body> </html>

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<h2><strong>1000 Seeds Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)</strong></h2> <h2><span style="color: #ff0000;" class=""><strong>Price for Package of 1000 seeds.</strong></span></h2> <p>Aronia melanocarpa is an extraordinary medicine plant that has been developed in Poland. It has an incredible array of health qualities. Known as Chokeberry, the native Americans used it to prepare pemmican (dried meat). It has a higher concentration of vitamin C than blackcurrants, but it also contains a host of other valuable substances, especially antioxidants, polyphenols, bioflavonoids, and tannins. It is a very hardy and vigorous plant and can survive most conditions.</p> <h3><strong>Wikipedia</strong>:</h3> <p><i><b>Aronia</b></i><span>&nbsp;</span>is a genus of<span>&nbsp;</span>deciduous<span>&nbsp;</span>shrubs, the<span>&nbsp;</span><b>chokeberries</b>, in the family<span>&nbsp;</span>Rosaceae<span>&nbsp;</span>native to eastern North America and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps.<span>&nbsp;</span>The genus is usually considered to contain two or three<span>&nbsp;</span>species, one of which is<span>&nbsp;</span>naturalized<span>&nbsp;</span>in Europe.</p> <p>Chokeberries are cultivated as<span>&nbsp;</span>ornamental plants<span>&nbsp;</span>and as<span>&nbsp;</span>food products. The sour berries, or<span>&nbsp;</span><b>Aronia berries</b>, can be eaten raw off the bush, but are more frequently processed. They can be found in wine, jam, syrup, juice, soft spreads, tea, salsa,<span>&nbsp;</span>chili starters, extracts, beer, ice cream,<span>&nbsp;</span>gummies,<span>&nbsp;</span>and<span>&nbsp;</span>tinctures.<span>&nbsp;</span>The name "chokeberry" comes from the<span>&nbsp;</span>astringency<span>&nbsp;</span>of the fruits, which creates the sensation of making one's mouth pucker.</p> <p><i>Chokeberries</i><span>&nbsp;</span>are often mistakenly called<span>&nbsp;</span><i>chokecherries</i>, the<span>&nbsp;</span>common name<span>&nbsp;</span>for<span>&nbsp;</span><i>Prunus virginiana</i>. Further adding to the ambiguity, a<span>&nbsp;</span>variety<span>&nbsp;</span>of<span>&nbsp;</span><i>Prunus virginiana</i><span>&nbsp;</span>is<span>&nbsp;</span><i>melanocarpa</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference">[9]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>and readily confused with<span>&nbsp;</span><i>black chokeberry</i><span>&nbsp;</span>because it is commonly referred to as "black chokeberry" or "aronia". Aronia berries and chokecherries both contain<span>&nbsp;</span>polyphenolic<span>&nbsp;</span>compounds, such as<span>&nbsp;</span>anthocyanins, yet the two plants are distantly related within the family Rosaceae.</p> <p>The<span>&nbsp;</span>leaves<span>&nbsp;</span>are alternate, simple, and<span>&nbsp;</span>oblanceolate<span>&nbsp;</span>with<span>&nbsp;</span>crenate<span>&nbsp;</span>margins and<span>&nbsp;</span>pinnate<span>&nbsp;</span>venation; in autumn the leaves turn a bold red color. Dark<span>&nbsp;</span>trichomes<span>&nbsp;</span>are present on the upper midrib surface. The<span>&nbsp;</span>flowers<span>&nbsp;</span>are small, with 5<span>&nbsp;</span>petals<span>&nbsp;</span>and 5<span>&nbsp;</span>sepals, and produced in<span>&nbsp;</span>corymbs<span>&nbsp;</span>of 10–25 together.<span>&nbsp;</span>Hypanthium<span>&nbsp;</span>is urn-shaped. The fruit is a small<span>&nbsp;</span>pome, with an<span>&nbsp;</span>astringent<span>&nbsp;</span>flavor.</p> <p><i>Aronia</i><span>&nbsp;</span>has been thought to be closely related to<span>&nbsp;</span><i>Photinia</i>, and has been included in that genus in some classifications,<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference">[10]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>but botanist Cornelis Kalkman observed that a combined genus should be under the older name<span>&nbsp;</span><i>Aronia</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-Kalkman_11-0" class="reference">[11]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>The combined genus contains about 65 species.<sup id="cite_ref-weakley_12-0" class="reference">[12]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>In 2004, Kalkman expressed doubt about the<span>&nbsp;</span>monophyly<span>&nbsp;</span>of the combined group, and new molecular studies confirm this.<sup id="cite_ref-Potter_13-0" class="reference">[13]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-Campbell_14-0" class="reference">[14]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>They do not place these two genera together or even near one another.</p> <p>In eastern North America are two well-known species, named after their fruit color, red chokeberry and black chokeberry, plus a purple chokeberry whose origin is a natural hybrid of the two.<sup id="cite_ref-weakley_12-1" class="reference">[12]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>A fourth species,<span>&nbsp;</span><i>Aronia mitschurinii</i>, that apparently originated in cultivation, is also known as<span>&nbsp;</span><i>Sorbaronia mitschurinii</i>.</p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Cultivation">Cultivation</span></h2> <p>Aronia is considered cold hardy and heat tolerant in<span>&nbsp;</span>USDA<span>&nbsp;</span>Zones 3 to 8.<sup id="cite_ref-usda_17-0" class="reference">[17]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference">[18]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>Aronia plants grow well both in<span>&nbsp;</span>orchard-type rows or set as<span>&nbsp;</span>landscape<span>&nbsp;</span>elements, including several varieties in 3 to 12 foot heights.<sup id="cite_ref-usda_17-1" class="reference">[17]</sup></p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Products_and_uses">Products and uses</span></h3> <p>The chokeberries are attractive<span>&nbsp;</span>ornamental plants<span>&nbsp;</span>for gardens. They are naturally understory and woodland edge plants, and grow well when planted under<span>&nbsp;</span>trees. Chokeberries are resistant to drought, insects, pollution, and disease. A number of<span>&nbsp;</span>cultivars, including<span>&nbsp;</span><i>A. arbutifolia</i><span>&nbsp;</span>'Brilliant' and<span>&nbsp;</span><i>A. melanocarpa</i><span>&nbsp;</span>'Autumn magic', have been selected for their striking fall leaf color.</p> <p>An aronia wine is made in<span>&nbsp;</span>Lithuania. In<span>&nbsp;</span>Poland, aronia berries are added to jams and juices or dried to make a herbal<span>&nbsp;</span>tea<span>&nbsp;</span>sometimes blended with other ingredients, such as<span>&nbsp;</span>blackcurrant.<sup id="cite_ref-mckay_19-0" class="reference">[19]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>In<span>&nbsp;</span>Bosnia and Herzegovina, the berries are sold fresh and frozen or made into juices, jams and teas.<sup id="cite_ref-Fresh_Fruit_Portal_20-0" class="reference">[20]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>Aronia is also used as a<span>&nbsp;</span>flavoring<span>&nbsp;</span>or<span>&nbsp;</span>colorant<span>&nbsp;</span>for beverages or yogurts.<sup id="cite_ref-mckay_19-1" class="reference">[19]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>Juice from the ripe berries is<span>&nbsp;</span>astringent, semi-sweet (moderate sugar content), sour (low<span>&nbsp;</span>pH), and contains a low level of<span>&nbsp;</span>vitamin C.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference">[21]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>The berries have a tart<span>&nbsp;</span>flavor<span>&nbsp;</span>and, in addition to juice, can be baked into breads.<sup id="cite_ref-mckay_19-2" class="reference">[19]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>In the United States and Canada, aronia<span>&nbsp;</span>juice concentrate<span>&nbsp;</span>is used in manufactured juice blends.</p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Polyphenol_content">Polyphenol content</span></h3> <p><i>Aronia melanocarpa</i><span>&nbsp;</span>(black chokeberry) has attracted scientific interest due to its deep purple, almost black<span>&nbsp;</span>pigmentation<span>&nbsp;</span>that arises from dense contents of<span>&nbsp;</span>polyphenols, especially<span>&nbsp;</span>anthocyanins. Total polyphenol content is 1752&nbsp;mg per 100 g dry weight,<sup id="cite_ref-Phenol-Explorer_22-0" class="reference">[22]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>anthocyanin content is 1480&nbsp;mg per 100 g dry weight, and<span>&nbsp;</span>proanthocyanidin<span>&nbsp;</span>concentration is 664&nbsp;mg per 100 g fresh weight.<sup id="cite_ref-Wu_23-0" class="reference">[23]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference">[24]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>These values are among the highest measured in plants to date. The black aronia species contains higher levels of anthocyanins than purple (<i>Aronia prunifolia</i>) or red aronia (<i>Aronia arbutifolia</i>), whereas red and purple aronia are richer in phenolic acid and proanthocyanins.<sup id="cite_ref-pmid23941506_25-0" class="reference">[25]</sup></p> <p>The plant produces these pigments mainly in the leaves and skin of the berries to protect the pulp and seeds from constant exposure to<span>&nbsp;</span>ultraviolet radiation<span>&nbsp;</span>and production of<span>&nbsp;</span>free radicals.<sup id="cite_ref-simon_26-0" class="reference">[26]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference">[27]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference">[28]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>By absorbing<span>&nbsp;</span>UV<span>&nbsp;</span>rays in the<span>&nbsp;</span>blue-purple spectrum, leaf and skin pigments filter intense sunlight, serve antioxidant functions and thereby have a role assuring regeneration of the species. Brightly colorful pigmentation also attracts birds and other animals to consume the fruit and disperse the seeds in their droppings.<sup id="cite_ref-simon_26-1" class="reference">[26]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference">[29]</sup></p> <p>Analysis of polyphenols in chokeberries has identified the following individual chemicals (among hundreds known to exist in the plant kingdom):<span>&nbsp;</span>cyanidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-arabinoside,<span>&nbsp;</span>quercetin-3-glycoside,<span>&nbsp;</span>epicatechin,<span>&nbsp;</span>caffeic acid,<span>&nbsp;</span>delphinidin,<span>&nbsp;</span>petunidin,<span>&nbsp;</span>pelargonidin,<span>&nbsp;</span>peonidin, and<span>&nbsp;</span>malvidin.<sup id="cite_ref-Wu_23-1" class="reference">[23]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-pmid23941506_25-1" class="reference">[25]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference">[30]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>All these except caffeic acid are members of the<span>&nbsp;</span>flavonoid<span>&nbsp;</span>category of phenolics.</p> <p>For reference to phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and similar plant-derived phytochemicals,<sup id="cite_ref-Phenol-Explorer_22-1" class="reference">[22]</sup><span>&nbsp;</span>Wikipedia has a<span>&nbsp;</span>list of phytochemicals and foods in which they are prominent.</p> <div> <table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="2" valign="top" width="100%"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Sowing Instructions</strong></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Propagation:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">Seeds</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Pretreat:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">soak in water for 8- 12 hours&nbsp;</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Stratification:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">1 months in moist sowing mix at 2-5 ° C refrigerator</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Sowing Time:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">all year round</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Sowing Depth:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">1 cm</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Sowing Mix:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">Coir or sowing mix + sand or perlite</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Germination temperature:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">20 ° C</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Location:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">bright + keep constantly moist not wet</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Germination Time:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">2-8 weeks</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Watering:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">Water regularly during the growing season</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><br><span style="color: #008000;"><em>Copyright © 2012 Seeds Gallery - Saatgut Galerie - Galerija semena.&nbsp;</em><em>All Rights Reserved.</em><em></em></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <div> <div style="text-align: center;">Genus: Aronia</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Species: melanocarpa</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Common Name: Black Chokeberry</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Other Name: Chokeberry, Gueles Noires</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Pre-treatment: required</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Zone Hardiness Cold: 3</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Zone Hardiness warm: 8</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Plant Type: Small Shrub</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Growth rate: medium</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Vegetation type: deciduous</div> <div style="text-align: center;">Leaf /Flower color: Green/White</div> </div><script src="//cdn.public.n1ed.com/G3OMDFLT/widgets.js"></script>

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<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> </head> <body> <h2><strong>Giant Bitter Melon Seeds (Momordica Charantia)</strong></h2> <h2><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Price per pack of 5 seeds.</strong></span></h2> <p>This is the biggest Bitter Melon that exists, it reaches a <strong>length of over 45 centimeters</strong> and a <strong>width of 6 centimeters!</strong> After several years, we managed to extract the largest fruits and store and sow those seeds, finally for the third year in a row we get the same fruits that are really huge!</p> <p>If the Balsam Pear did not exist a pharmaceutical company would invent it.  In fact, there have been some ten studies published this past year about it, the latest as of this writing in February 2008 in the Journal of Food Biochemistry about its potential in diabetes treatment.</p> <p>A very common, bitter vegetable in Asian cuisine,  the Balsam Pear, Momordica charantia,  is a natural drug store for diabetics and others. It’s not a pear at all but a fruiting gourd and vine that smells like an old, well-used gym shoe. Don’t say you weren’t warned.</p> <div>The warty gourd is edible when green (and cooked) but turns toxic when orange ripe. It then splits characteristically into three parts, revealing red arils (fleshy seed covers).  The ripe seeds inside the arils and orange flesh of the gourd are toxic and can make one violently lose fluids from both ends, and induce abortions. The red arils around the seeds, however, are edible. And notice this: The arils are 96% lycopene, which gives them their color. Just remember to spit out the seed from each aril.</div> <div>M. charantia is found Connecticut south to Florida, west to Texas, also Puerto Rico and the Hawaiian Islands. Incidentally, the bitter melon has twice the potassium of bananas and is also rich in vitamin A and C.</div> <div> </div> <div>The Latin genus name, Momordica, (mo-MOR-dee-ka)  means “to bite,” and refers to the jagged edges of the leaves, which appear as if they have been bitten. Charantia (char-AN-tee-ah) the species’ name, comes from Greek meaning beautiful flower.  It’s native to tropical regions of the world though no one knows where it came from originally. Gray’s four-inch thick Manual of Botany, started in 1850 and revised in 1950, makes no mention of M. charantia in the United States but it is currently a serious crop weed in Florida and to 21 other crops around the world, bananas to soybeans. It’s a late comer to Florida or Gray was in the dark about it. In the Amazon, and as far away as India, it is used very much by local populations for food and medicine.  Apparently a  dynamic chemical factory, the M. charantia is being tested for treatment against cancer — leukemia in particular —  AIDS, as an analgesic, and to moderate insulin resistance. It is often called the vegetable insulin. It does not increase insulin secretion but “speeds up carbohydrate use of the cells by affecting membrane lipids.” Seems like the smelly gym shoe hanging on the fence has a great future. But, it is not for everyone: Don’t eat the vegetable if you’re hypoglycemic or pregnant. In diabetics it can lower blood sugar too effectively. It also reduces fertility in men and women.  And, it contains vicine. That can cause favism in people who have a variant glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. (I presume if you don’t know what that is you don’t have it. Favism is a severe reaction to fava beans and or their pollen. Occurs most often in Mediterranean men.)</div> <div>Cultivated versions of the M. charantia, also called Bitter Gourd or Wild Balsam Apple, are found in most Asian markets, and they, too, smell like an old gym shoe. The odor, thankfully, almost all goes away when cooked and the bitterness moderates, but does not go away. If you are not yet brave enough to pick your own, you can buy some or grow it yourself. There are many varieties and numerous recipes are on the Internet. The M. charantia is indeed bitter. Some cut up the vegetable and soak it in water, or salted water and or blanch it  to reduce the bitterness.</div> <div>While I have never seen an Oriental family picking M. charantia off local fences here in Florida, I have seen many Hispanic families doing so.  Dr. Julia Morton, a plant professor in south Florida,  says besides the green fruit, the young leaves when cooked and drained are also edible and nutritious, with iron, phosphorous, calcium and vitamin C. I have never managed to get past the locker room bouquet to toss ‘em in a pot, and the fruit is just too bitter for me to enjoy. The ripe fruit pulp has been used as a soap substitute, which should give you some idea of the flavor. In India and Africa the cooked leaves are canned like spinach. The fragrant flowers can be used as seasoning when cooking.</div> <div> </div> <div>Incidentally, if you have a glut of green Bitter Gourds, you can slice them, partially boil them with salted water, then dry them, sun or otherwise. They will last for several months. You can then fry them and use as you like. Also, drinking the fresh bitter juice is recommended by some naturopaths. That ain’t going to be easy, it’s really bitter…. much easier to tell someone to do it than do it yourself.</div> <div> </div> <div>REMEMBER: No part of the Momordica charantia is ever to be eaten raw, except for the red arils (and remember to spit the seeds out.)  No part, other than the arils, is ever to be eaten when ripe, which is when it is turning from green to yellow to orange. Do not eat the yellow or orange fruit raw or cooked. It is toxic. Also, the green fruit is suspected in the poisoning of dogs and pigs.</div> <div> </div> <div>Relatives: Momordica balsamina, which has longer spines on the fruit and can ripen to red, grows only in St. Lucie County in Florida and only a smattering of places in the southern U.S.  M. balsamina fruit can be pickled or after soaking used as a cooked vegetable. Young shoots and tendrils are boiled as a green. The seeds are eaten.  Momordica cochinchinensis produces a huge round fruit that is red when ripe. Young fruit boiled, not as bitter as M. charantia. Momordica dioica, small and roundish,  is more esteemed than the rest. It is not bitter but sweet. Fruits, shoots, leaves and roots are boiled for food. There are also at least seven commercial cultivars of the Momordica gourds</div> <div>IDENTIFICATION: Momordica charantia: A slender, climbing annual vine to 18 feet with long-stalked leaves and yellow flowers where the leaf meets the stem. Young fruit emerald green turning to orange when ripe. At maturity, fruit splits into three irregular parts that curl backwards showing many reddish-brown or white seeds encased in scarlet arils.</div> <div> </div> <div>TIME OF YEAR: Fruit, summer and fall in warm climates, fall in northern climes.</div> <div> </div> <div>ENVIRONMENT: Love to climb, found in hammocks, disturbed sites, turf and ornamental landscapes, and citrus groves . It seems to be the most common vine on chain link fences in Florida.</div> <div> </div> <div>METHOD OF PREPARATION: None of it ripe except the arils. Boiled green fruit (including seeds) leaves and shoots, boiled twice. Or, cut open and remove seeds and fiber and parboil.  Ripe parts toxic are too bitter to eat.  (An adult can swallow hole two ripe seed and not have much distress.) Young leaves and shoots are boiled and eaten as a potherb. Flowers used as seasoning.</div> <div> </div> <div>HERB BLURB</div> <div>Herbalists say the charantia has long been used to treat diabetes and a host of other ailments from arthritis to jaundice. <p> </p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%" valign="top"> <h3><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Sowing Instructions</strong></span></h3> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Propagation:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">Seeds</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Pretreat:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">preswollen 2 days in water</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Stratification:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">0</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Sowing Time:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">all year round</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Sowing Depth:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">0,5-1 cm</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Sowing Mix:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">Coir or sowing mix + sand or perlite</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Germination temperature:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">20 - 25° C</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Location:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">bright + keep constantly moist not wet</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Germination Time:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">1-4 weeks</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Watering:</strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><span style="color: #008000;">Water regularly during the growing season</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong> </strong></span></p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p><br /><span style="color: #008000;">Seeds Gallery 05.11.2012.</span></p> <div><span style="color: #008000;"> </span></div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </body> </html>

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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <h2><strong>Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)</strong></h2> <h2><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Price for Package of 20 seeds.</strong></span></h2> <p><b>Rapeseed</b><span> (</span><i>Brassica napus<span> </span></i><span>subsp.</span><i><span> </span>napus</i><span>) is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family </span>Brassicaceae<span> (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains appreciable amounts of toxic </span>erucic acid<span>. </span><b>Canola</b><span> are a group of </span><i>rapeseed</i><span> </span>cultivars<span> which were bred to have very low levels of </span>erucic acid<span> and are especially prized for use for human and animal food. </span><i>Rapeseed</i><span> is the third-largest source of </span>vegetable oil<span> and second-largest source of protein meal in the world.</span></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Etymology_and_taxonomy">Etymology and taxonomy</span></h2> <p>The term "rape" derives from the Latin word for<span> </span>turnip,<span> </span><i>rapa</i><span> </span>or<span> </span><i>rapum</i>, cognate with the Greek word<span> </span><i>rhapys</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEOED2016_3-0" class="reference">[2]</sup></p> <p>The<span> </span>species<span> </span><i>Brassica napus</i><span> </span>belongs to the flowering plant family<span> </span>Brassicaceae. Rapeseed is a<span> </span>subspecies<span> </span>with the<span> </span>autonym<span> </span><i>B. napus<span> </span></i>subsp.<i><span> </span>napus</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGRIN2012a_4-0" class="reference">[3]</sup><span> </span>It encompasses winter and spring oilseed, vegetable and fodder rape.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESnowdonLühsFriedt200654_5-0" class="reference">[4]</sup><span> </span>Siberian kale is a distinct leaf rape form<span> </span>variety<span> </span>(<i>B. napus<span> </span></i>var.<i><span> </span>pabularia</i>) which used to be common as a winter-annual vegetable.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGRIN2010b_6-0" class="reference">[5]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESnowdonLühsFriedt200654_5-1" class="reference">[4]</sup><span> </span>The second subspecies of<span> </span><i>B. napus</i><span> </span>is<span> </span><i>B. napus<span> </span></i>subsp.<i><span> </span>rapifera</i><span> </span>(also subsp.<span> </span><i>napobrassica</i>; the rutabaga, swede, or yellow turnip).<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGRIN2012b_7-0" class="reference">[6]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENCBI2013_8-0" class="reference">[7]</sup></p> <p><i>Brassica napus</i><span> </span>is an digenomic<span> </span>amphidiploid<span> </span>that occurred due to the<span> </span>interspecific hybridization<span> </span>between<span> </span><i>Brassica oleracea</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>Brassica rapa</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDowneyRimmer19936_9-0" class="reference">[8]</sup><span> </span>It is a self-compatible pollinating species like the other amphidiploid<span> </span><i>brassica</i><span> </span>species.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDowneyRimmer19937_10-0" class="reference">[9]</sup></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Description">Description</span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner"><img alt="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Brassica_napus_2.jpg/220px-Brassica_napus_2.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="354" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Brassica_napus_2.jpg/330px-Brassica_napus_2.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Brassica_napus_2.jpg/440px-Brassica_napus_2.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1204" data-file-height="1936" title="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" /> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"></div> Rapeseed blossoms</div> </div> </div> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner"><img alt="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Brassica_napus_fruit7_%2814678237321%29.jpg/220px-Brassica_napus_fruit7_%2814678237321%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="339" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Brassica_napus_fruit7_%2814678237321%29.jpg/330px-Brassica_napus_fruit7_%2814678237321%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Brassica_napus_fruit7_%2814678237321%29.jpg/440px-Brassica_napus_fruit7_%2814678237321%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1720" data-file-height="2652" title="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" /> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"></div> Rapeseed pod with seeds inside</div> </div> </div> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner"><img alt="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%B0.jpg/220px-%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%B0.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="220" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%B0.jpg/330px-%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%B0.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%B0.jpg/440px-%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%B0.jpg 2x" data-file-width="5772" data-file-height="5772" title="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" /> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"></div> Rapeseed seed under a microscope.</div> </div> </div> <p><i>Brassica napus</i><span> </span>grows to 100 cm (39 in) in height with hairless, fleshy,<span> </span>pinnatifid<span> </span>and<span> </span>glaucous<span> </span>lower leaves<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMartin1965_11-0" class="reference">[10]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEParnellCurtisWebb2012_12-0" class="reference">[11]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWebbParnellDoogue1996_13-0" class="reference">[12]</sup><span> </span>which are stalked whereas the upper leaves have no<span> </span>petioles.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECallihanBrennanMillerBrown20006_14-0" class="reference">[13]</sup><span> </span><i>Brassica napus</i><span> </span>can be distinguished from<span> </span><i>Brassica nigra</i><span> </span>by the upper leaves which do not clasp the stem, and from<span> </span><i>Brassica rapa</i><span> </span>by its smaller petals which are less than 13 mm (0.51 in) across.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEParnellCurtisWebb2012_12-1" class="reference">[11]</sup></p> <p>Rapeseed flowers are yellow and about 17 mm (0.67 in) across.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEParnellCurtisWebb2012_12-2" class="reference">[11]</sup><span> </span>They are radial and consist of four<span> </span>petals<span> </span>in a typical cross-form, alternating with four<span> </span>sepals. They have indeterminate<span> </span>racemose<span> </span>flowering starting at the lowest bud and growing upward in the following days. The flowers have two lateral<span> </span>stamens<span> </span>with short filaments, and four median stamens with longer filaments whose anthers split away from the flower's center upon flowering.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESnowdonLühsFriedt200656_15-0" class="reference">[14]</sup></p> <p>The rapeseed pods are green and elongated<span> </span>siliquae<span> </span>during development that eventually ripen to brown. They grow on<span> </span>pedicels<span> </span>1 to 3 cm long, and can range from 5 to 10 cm in length.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECallihanBrennanMillerBrown20006_14-1" class="reference">[13]</sup><span> </span>Each pod has two<span> </span>compartments<span> </span>separated by an inner central wall within which a row of seeds develop.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20081–2_16-0" class="reference">[15]</sup><span> </span>The seeds are round and have a diameter of 1.5 to 3mm. They have a reticulate surface texture,<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECallihanBrennanMillerBrown20006_14-2" class="reference">[13]</sup><span> </span>and are black and hard at maturity.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20081–2_16-1" class="reference">[15]</sup></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Ecology">Ecology</span></h2> <p>In<span> </span>Northern Ireland, U K<span> </span><i>B. napus</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>B. rapa</i><span> </span>are recorded as escapes in roadside verges and waste ground.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBeesleyWilde1997104_17-0" class="reference">[16]</sup></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Uses">Uses</span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner"><img alt="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Rapeseed%2C_roasted.jpg/220px-Rapeseed%2C_roasted.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="215" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Rapeseed%2C_roasted.jpg/330px-Rapeseed%2C_roasted.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Rapeseed%2C_roasted.jpg/440px-Rapeseed%2C_roasted.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3021" data-file-height="2948" title="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" /> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"></div> Roasted canola seeds</div> </div> </div> <p>Rapeseed is grown for the production of<span> </span>animal feed, edible<span> </span>vegetable oils, and<span> </span>biodiesel. Rapeseed was the third-leading source of vegetable oil in the world in 2000, after<span> </span>soybean<span> </span>and<span> </span>palm oil.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUSDA200226_18-0" class="reference">[17]</sup><span> </span>It is the world's second-leading source of<span> </span>protein<span> </span>meal after soybean.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHeuzéTranSauvantLessire2020_19-0" class="reference">[18]</sup></p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Animal_feed">Animal feed</span></h3> <p>Processing of rapeseed for oil production produces rapeseed meal as a byproduct. The byproduct is a high-protein animal feed, competitive with soybean. The feed is employed mostly for<span> </span>cattle<span> </span>feeding, but is also used for<span> </span>pigs<span> </span>and<span> </span>poultry.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHeuzéTranSauvantLessire2020_19-1" class="reference">[18]</sup><span> </span>However, natural rapeseed oil contains 50%<span> </span>erucic acid<span> </span>and high levels of<span> </span>glucosinolates<span> </span>that significantly lowers the nutritional value of rapeseed press cakes for animal feed.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPottsRakowMales1999_20-0" class="reference">[19]</sup></p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Vegetable_oil">Vegetable oil</span></h3> <p>Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils, but historically was used in limited quantities due to high levels of erucic acid, which is damaging to<span> </span>cardiac muscle<span> </span>of animals, and glucosinolates, which made it less nutritious in animal feed.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEO'Brien200837_21-0" class="reference">[20]</sup><span> </span>Rapeseed oil can contain up to 54% erucic acid.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESahasrabudhe1977323_22-0" class="reference">[21]</sup><span> </span>Food-grade canola oil derived from rapeseed cultivars, also known as rapeseed 00 oil, low erucic acid rapeseed oil, LEAR oil, and rapeseed canola-equivalent oil, has been<span> </span>generally recognized as safe<span> </span>by the<span> </span>United States Food and Drug Administration.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUSFDA2010_23-0" class="reference">[22]</sup><span> </span>Canola oil is limited by government regulation to a maximum of 2% erucic acid by weight in the USA<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUSFDA2010_23-1" class="reference">[22]</sup><span> </span>and 5% in the EU,<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEC1980_24-0" class="reference">[23]</sup><span> </span>with special regulations for infant food. These low levels of erucic acid are not believed to cause harm in human<span> </span>infants.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUSFDA2010_23-2" class="reference">[22]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEC1980_24-1" class="reference">[23]</sup></p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Biodiesel">Biodiesel</span></h3> <p>Rapeseed oil is used as diesel fuel, either as<span> </span>biodiesel, straight in heated fuel systems, or blended with petroleum distillates for powering motor vehicles. Biodiesel may be used in pure form in newer engines without engine damage and is frequently combined with fossil-fuel<span> </span>diesel<span> </span>in ratios varying from 2% to 20% biodiesel. Owing to the costs of growing, crushing, and refining rapeseed biodiesel, rapeseed-derived biodiesel from new oil costs more to produce than standard diesel fuel, so diesel fuels are commonly made from the used oil. Rapeseed oil is the preferred oil stock for biodiesel production in most of Europe, accounting for about 80% of the feedstock,<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact">[<i><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (April 2020)">citation needed</span></i>]</sup><span> </span>partly because rapeseed produces more oil per unit of land area compared to other oil sources, such as soybeans, but primarily because canola oil has a significantly lower<span> </span>gel point<span> </span>than most other vegetable oils.</p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Other">Other</span></h3> <p>Rapeseed is also used as a<span> </span>cover crop<span> </span>in the US during the winter as it prevents<span> </span>soil erosion, produces large amounts of<span> </span>biomass, suppresses weeds and can improve soil<span> </span>tilth<span> </span>with its root system. Some cultivars of rapeseed are also used as annual forage and are ready for grazing livestock 80 to 90 days after planting.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAgMRC2018_25-0" class="reference"></sup></p> <p>Rapeseed has a high<span> </span>melliferous<span> </span>potential and is a main forage crop for<span> </span>honeybees.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBertazziniForlani20162_26-0" class="reference">[25]</sup><span> </span>Monofloral rapeseed honey has a whitish or milky yellow color, peppery taste and, due to its fast crystallization time, a soft-solid texture. It crystallizes within 3 to 4 weeks and can ferment over time if stored improperly.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELixandru2017_27-0" class="reference">[26]</sup><span> </span>The low fructose-to-glucose ratio in<span> </span>monofloral rapeseed honey<span> </span>causes it to quickly granulate in the<span> </span>honeycomb, forcing beekeepers to extract the honey within 24 hours of it being capped.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBertazziniForlani20162_26-1" class="reference">[25]</sup></p> <p>As a<span> </span>biolubricant, rapeseed has possible uses for bio-medical applications (e.g., lubricants for artificial joints) and the use of personal lubricant for sexual purposes.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESalimonSalihYousif2010522_28-0" class="reference">[27]</sup><span> </span>Biolubricant containing 70% or more canola/rapeseed oil has replaced petroleum-based chainsaw oil in Austria although they are typically more expensive.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGarrett1998_29-0" class="reference">[28]</sup></p> <p>Rapeseed has been researched as a means of containing<span> </span>radionuclides<span> </span>that contaminated the soil after the<span> </span>Chernobyl disaster<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESmith2004_30-0" class="reference">[29]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERIA_Novosti2010_31-0" class="reference">[30]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalker2010_32-0" class="reference">[31]</sup><span> </span>as it has a rate of uptake up to three times more than other grains, and only about 3 to 6% of the radionuclides go into the oilseeds.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESmith2004_30-1" class="reference">[29]</sup></p> <p>Rapeseed meal is mostly used as a soil fertilizer rather than for animal feed in<span> </span>China.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBonjeanDequidtSangLimagrain20166_33-0" class="reference">[32]</sup></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Cultivation">Cultivation</span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner"><img alt="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Champ_de_colza_C%C3%B4te-d%27Or_Bourgogne_avril_2014.jpg/220px-Champ_de_colza_C%C3%B4te-d%27Or_Bourgogne_avril_2014.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="137" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Champ_de_colza_C%C3%B4te-d%27Or_Bourgogne_avril_2014.jpg/330px-Champ_de_colza_C%C3%B4te-d%27Or_Bourgogne_avril_2014.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Champ_de_colza_C%C3%B4te-d%27Or_Bourgogne_avril_2014.jpg/440px-Champ_de_colza_C%C3%B4te-d%27Or_Bourgogne_avril_2014.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4208" data-file-height="2626" title="Rapeseed seeds (Brassica napus subsp. napus)" /> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"></div> Field of rapeseed</div> </div> </div> <p>Crops from the genus<span> </span><i>Brassica</i>, including rapeseed, were among the earliest plants to be widely cultivated by mankind as early as 10,000 years ago. Rapeseed was being cultivated in India as early as 4000 B.C. and it spread to China and Japan 2000 years ago.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESnowdonLühsFriedt200654_5-2" class="reference">[4]</sup></p> <p>Rapeseed oil is predominantly cultivated in its winter form in most of Europe and Asia due to the requirement of<span> </span>vernalization<span> </span>to start the process of flowering. It is sown in autumn and remains in a<span> </span>leaf rosette<span> </span>on the soil surface during the winter. The plant grows a long vertical stem in the next spring followed by lateral branch development. It generally flowers in late spring with the process of pod development and ripening occurring over a period of 6–8 weeks until<span> </span>midsummer.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESnowdonLühsFriedt200656_15-1" class="reference">[14]</sup></p> <p>In Europe, winter rapeseed is grown as an annual break crop in three to four-year rotations with cereals such as<span> </span>wheat<span> </span>and<span> </span>barley, and break crops such as<span> </span>peas<span> </span>and<span> </span>beans. This is done to reduce the possibility of pests and diseases being carried over from one crop to another.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20083_34-0" class="reference">[33]</sup><span> </span>Winter rape is less susceptible to<span> </span>crop failure<span> </span>as it is more vigorous than the summer variety and can compensate for damage done by pests.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20084_35-0" class="reference">[34]</sup></p> <p>Spring rapeseed is cultivated in Canada, northern Europe and Australia as it is not winter-hardy and does not require vernalization. The crop is sown in spring with stem development happening immediately after<span> </span>germination.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESnowdonLühsFriedt200656_15-2" class="reference">[14]</sup></p> <p>Rapeseed can be cultivated on a wide variety of well-drained soils, prefers a<span> </span>pH<span> </span>between 5.5 and 8.3 and has a moderate tolerance of<span> </span>soil salinity.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAgMRC2018_25-1" class="reference">[24]</sup><span> </span>It is predominantly a<span> </span>wind-pollinated<span> </span>plant but shows significantly increased grain yields when<span> </span>bee-pollinated,<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChambóDe_OliveiraGarciaDuarte-Júnior20142087_36-0" class="reference">[35]</sup><span> </span>almost double the final yield<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBertazziniForlani20162_26-2" class="reference">[25]</sup><span> </span>but the effect is cultivar-dependent.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELindströmHerbertssonRundlöfSmith2015759_37-0" class="reference">[36]</sup><span> </span>It is currently grown with high levels of nitrogen-containing fertilisers, and the manufacture of these generates<span> </span>N₂O. An estimated 3-5% of nitrogen provided as fertilizer for rapeseed is converted to N₂O.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewis_Jr.2007_38-0" class="reference">[37]</sup></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Diseases_and_pests">Diseases and pests</span></h2> <p>The main diseases of the winter rapeseed crop are<span> </span><i>canker</i>,<span> </span><i>light leaf spot</i>,<span> </span><i>alternaria</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>sclerotinia<span> </span>stem rot</i>. Canker causes<span> </span>leaf spotting, and premature ripening and weakening of the stem during the autumn-winter period. A conazole or<span> </span>triazole<span> </span>fungicide<span> </span>treatment is required in late autumn and in spring against<span> </span><i>canker</i><span> </span>while broad-spectrum fungicides are used during the spring-summer period for alternaria and sclerotinia control.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20087_39-0" class="reference">[38]</sup><span> </span>Oilseed rape cannot be planted in close rotation with itself due to soil-borne diseases such as<span> </span><i>sclerotinia</i>,<span> </span><i>verticillium wilt</i><span> </span>and<span> </span>clubroot.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20083_34-1" class="reference">[33]</sup></p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Pests">Pests</span></h3> <p>Rapeseed is attacked by a wide variety of insects,<span> </span>nematodes,<span> </span>slugs<span> </span>as well as<span> </span>wood pigeons.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20086_40-0" class="reference">[39]</sup><span> </span>The<span> </span><i>brassica pod midge</i>,<span> </span><i>cabbage seed weevil</i>,<span> </span><i>cabbage stem weevil</i>,<span> </span><i>cabbage stem flea beetle</i>,<span> </span><i>rape stem weevil</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>pollen beetles</i><span> </span>are the primary insect pests that prey on the oilseed rape crop in Europe.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20089_41-0" class="reference">[40]</sup><span> </span>The insect pests can feed on developing pods to lay eggs inside and eat the developing seeds, bore into the plant's stem and feed on pollen, leaves and flowers. Synthetic<span> </span>pyrethroid<span> </span>insecticides<span> </span>are the main attack vector against insect pests though there is a large-scale use of<span> </span>prophylactic<span> </span>insecticides in many countries.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20087_39-1" class="reference">[38]</sup><span> </span>Molluscicide<span> </span>pellets are used either before or after sowing of the rapeseed crop to protect against slugs.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAlford20086_40-1" class="reference">[39]</sup></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="History_of_the_cultivars">History of the cultivars</span></h2> <p>In 1973, Canadian<span> </span>agricultural scientists<span> </span>launched a marketing campaign to promote<span> </span>canola<span> </span>consumption.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEThiyam-HolländerEskinMatthäus20134_42-0" class="reference">[41]</sup><span> </span>Seed, oil and protein meal derived from rapeseed cultivars which is low in erucic acid and low in glucosinolates was originally registered as a trademark, in 1978, of the Canola Council of Canada, as "canola".<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMag1983380_43-0" class="reference">[42]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERoché20155_44-0" class="reference">[43]</sup><span> </span>This is now a generic term for edible varieties of rapeseed but is still officially defined in Canada as rapeseed oil that "must contain less than 2% erucic acid and less than 30 µmol of glucosinolates per gram of air-dried oil-free meal."<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERoché20155_44-1" class="reference">[43]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECFIA2017_45-0" class="reference">[44]</sup></p> <p>Following the<span> </span>European Parliament's<span> </span>Transport Biofuels Directive<span> </span>in 2003 promoting the use of biofuels, the cultivation of winter rapeseed increased dramatically in Europe.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBertazziniForlani20162_26-3" class="reference">[25]</sup></p> <p>Bayer Cropscience, in collaboration with<span> </span>BGI-Shenzhen, China, Keygene N.V., the Netherlands, and the University of Queensland, Australia, announced it had sequenced the entire genome of<span> </span><i>B. napus</i><span> </span>and its constituent genomes present in<span> </span><i>B. rapa</i><span> </span>and<span> </span><i>B. oleracea</i><span> </span>in 2009. The "A" genome component of the amphidiploid rapeseed species<span> </span><i>B. napus</i><span> </span>is currently being sequenced by the Multinational<span> </span><i>Brassica</i><span> </span>Genome Project.<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference">[45]</sup><sup class="noprint Inline-Template">[<i><span title="The text near this tag is dated. (November 2010)">needs update</span></i>]</sup></p> <p>A<span> </span>genetically modified-for-glyphosate-tolerance variety of rapeseed which was developed in 1998 is considered to be the most disease- and drought-resistant canola. By 2009, 90% of the rapeseed crops planted in Canada were of this sort,<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBeckieHarkerLégèreMorrison201143_47-0" class="reference">[46]</sup><span> </span>adoption of which, however, has not been free of controversy.</p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="GMO_controversy">GMO controversy</span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article:<span> </span>Roundup Ready Canola</div> <p>The<span> </span>Monsanto<span> </span>company<span> </span>genetically engineered<span> </span>new cultivars of rapeseed to be resistant to the effects of its<span> </span>herbicide,<span> </span>Roundup. In 1998, they brought this to the Canadian market. Monsanto sought compensation from farmers found to have crops of this cultivar in their fields without paying a license fee. However, these farmers claimed that the pollen containing the<span> </span><i>Roundup Ready</i><span> </span>gene was blown into their fields and crossed with unaltered canola. Other farmers claimed that after spraying Roundup in non-canola fields to kill weeds before planting,<span> </span><i>Roundup Ready</i><span> </span>volunteers<span> </span>were left behind, causing extra expense to rid their fields of the weeds.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHartley2008_48-0" class="reference">[47]</sup></p> <p>In a closely followed legal battle, the<span> </span>Supreme Court of Canada<span> </span>found in favor of Monsanto's<span> </span>patent infringement<span> </span>claim for unlicensed growing of<span> </span><i>Roundup Ready</i><span> </span>in its 2004 ruling on<span> </span><i>Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser</i>, but also ruled that Schmeiser was not required to pay any damages. The case garnered international controversy, as a court-sanctioned legitimization for the global patent protection of<span> </span>genetically modified crops. In March 2008, an<span> </span>out-of-court settlement<span> </span>between Monsanto and Schmeiser agreed that Monsanto would clean up the entire GMO-canola crop on Schmeiser's farm, at a cost of about CAD $660.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHartley2008_48-1" class="reference">[47]</sup></p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Production">Production</span></h2> <p>The<span> </span>Food and Agriculture Organization<span> </span>reports global production of 36 million tons of rapeseed in the 2003–2004 season, and an estimated 58.4 million tons in the 2010–2011 season.<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference">[48]</sup></p> <p>Worldwide production of rapeseed (including canola) has increased sixfold between 1975 and 2007. The production of canola and rapeseed since 1975 has opened up the edible oil market for rapeseed oil. Since 2002, production of biodiesel has been steadily increasing in EU and USA to 6 million metric tons in 2006. Rapeseed oil is positioned to supply a good portion of the vegetable oils needed to produce that fuel. World production was thus expected to trend further upward between 2005 and 2015 as biodiesel content requirements in Europe go into effect.<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference">[</sup></p>

VE 134 (20 S)