Broccoflower is either of two

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushro ...

plants of the species ''

Brassica oleracea ''Brassica oleracea'' is a plant species from family Brassicaceae that includes many common cultivars used as vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, Savoy cabbage, kohlrabi, and gai lan. ...

'' with light green heads. The edible portion is the immature flower head (inflorescence) of the plant.

Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is clas ...

and

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus ''Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – t ...

are different

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s of the same species, and as such are fully

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...

compatible by

hand pollination Hand pollination, also known as mechanical pollination is a technique that can be used to pollinate plants when natural or open pollination is either undesirable or insufficient. Method This method of pollination is done by manually transf ...

or natural pollinators. There are two forms of ''Brassica oleracea'' that may be referred to as broccoflower, both of which are considered cultivars of cauliflower (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''botrytis'') because they have

inflorescent An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are form ...

meristem The meristem is a type of tissue found in plants. It consists of undifferentiated cells (meristematic cells) capable of cell division. Cells in the meristem can develop into all the other tissues and organs that occur in plants. These cells conti ...

s rather than flower buds when harvested. One is shaped like regular cauliflower, the other has pointed, conical, spiraling clusters of florets. They share a curd color that is a similar hue to that of

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is clas ...

Green cauliflower

The first form of broccoflower has the physical attributes of a white

, but the curd color is lime-green. There are several cultivars of green cauliflower on the market, with the first release being 'Green Ball' with parentage of both broccoli and cauliflower. The California firm Tanimura & Antle trademarked the word "Broccoflower" for the green cauliflower they market.

Romanesco broccoli

The second form is Romanesco broccoli, which is characterised by the striking and unusual

fractal In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as il ...

patterns of its flower head. It has a yellow or vibrant green curd color.

References

{{Brassica oleraca Brassica oleracea Inflorescence vegetables