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Brassicaceae FAMILY

Brassica napus napus

Brassica napus napus

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The oil contained in the seed of some varieties of this species can be rich in erucic acid which is used in industry but is toxic if consumed. However, modern cultivars have been selected for culinary use which are almost free of erucic acid[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Biennial
Growth—

Oilseed rape is a plant of the temperate zone, where it is found mainly at low elevations but also ascending up to 2,000 metres - it can also be cultivated at higher elevations from 1,500 - 2,200 metres in the tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 15 - 25°c, but can tolerate 5 - 41°c[1]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -15°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at -6°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 500 - 1,000mm, but tolerates 400 - 2,800mm[1]. Succeeds in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil[2]. Succeeds in any reasonable soil[3]. Prefers a heavy soil and cool moist conditions[4, 5]. Sunny days and cool nights are favourable for plant growth whilst dry weather at harvest time is essential[6]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.6, tolerating 5.5 - 8[1]. There are two main forms of oilseed rape and each form has many named varieties:- Annual rape, or summer rape, (sometimes classified as Brassica napus annua (Schubl. & G. Martens) Thell.) is a spring-sown crop harvested in the summer. It can take from 85 - 160 days from sowing to harvesting the seed[1]. Winter rape, canola or colza (sometimes classified as Brassica napus napus) is generally sown in the autumn and harvested in early to late summer.It can take from 160 - 340 days from sowing to harvest[1]. Rapeseed oil is naturally high in erucic acid and glucosinolates, both of which have anti-nutritional properties but have industrial uses. Forms high in erucic acid have been developed for industrial use, whilst cultivars have also been developed that have a low content of erucic acid and glucosinolates and are therefore suitable for food. Yields of 2 - 4 tonnes per hectare are considered good, while yields of 0.5 - 2 tonnes are more usual[1]. Rape is 70% self-pollinating and 30% cross-pollinated. Even if wind and insects are absent, seed are still produced. Yield increases with honeybees[6]. This species is closely related to Brassica rapa[2].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Brassica+napus+napus>

Pollinators

Bees, Self

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Salads all the Year Round. — Larkcom. J. · Hamlyn · 1980 ↩︎A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.
  4. [4]New Vegetable Growers Handbook. — Simons. · Penguin · 1977 · ISBN 0-14-046-050-0 ↩︎A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
  5. [5]Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. — Riotte. L. · Garden Way, Vermont, USA. · 1978 · ISBN 0-88266-064-0 ↩︎Fairly good.
  6. [6]Handbook of Energy Crops — Duke. J. · - · 1983 · https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html · ISBN - ↩︎Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants.
  7. [7]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  8. [8]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  9. [9]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  10. [10]Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. — Triska. Dr. · Hamlyn · 1975 · ISBN 0-600-33545-3 ↩︎Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
  11. [11]The Oxford Book of Food Plants. — Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. · Oxford University Press · 1975 · ISBN - ↩︎Good drawings of some of the more common food plants from around the world. Not much information though.
  12. [12]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  14. [14]The Gardener's Assistant. — Thompson. B. · Blackie and Son. · 1878 · ISBN - ↩︎Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.
  15. [15]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  16. [16]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
  17. [17]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
  18. [18]Plants Consumed by Man. — Brouk. B. · Academic Press · 1975 · ISBN 0-12-136450-x ↩︎Readable but not very comprehensive.