Pringlea antiscorbutica

Pringlea antiscorbutica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Brassicales
Family:	Brassicaceae
Genus:	Pringlea
Species:	P. antiscorbutica
Binomial name
Pringlea antiscorbutica Hook.f.

An old Kerguelen cabbage on the Péninsule Rallier du Baty, Kerguelen Island

Kerguelen cabbages on Mayes island (Kerguelen Islands)

Pringlea antiscorbutica, commonly known as Kerguelen cabbage, is a flowering plant in the Family Brassicaceae and thus related to cabbage. Its common name comes from the archipelago of its discovery, the Kerguelens, and its generic name derives from Sir John Pringle, President of the Royal Society at the time of its discovery by Captain James Cook's Surgeon, William Anderson in 1776.

Distribution

The species grows on the Heard Island and McDonald, Crozet, Prince Edward and Kerguelen Islands. These remote islands are at roughly 50° South Latitude, constantly buffeted by strong winds. This makes pollination by flying insects impractical, explaining why the Kerguelen cabbage is self-pollinating. At the mature stage, this species exhibits several adaptations linked to cold tolerance such as high polyamine levels.

Uses

The plant is edible, containing high levels of potassium. Its leaves contain a Vitamin C-rich oil, a fact which, in the days of sailing ships, made it very attractive to British sailors suffering from scurvy, hence the species name, which means "against scurvy" in Latin. It was essential to the diets of the whalers on Kerguelen when pork, beef, or seal meat was used up. In May 1840, botanist J.D. Hooker was the first to make a technical analysis of the plant, and to assign the Latin name. Hooker also reported having eaten some soup that had been made with Kerguelen cabbage, and described the raw leaves as tasting like cress, the boiled leaves as tasting like "stale" (i.e., dried-out) cabbage, and the root as tasting like horseradish.

Conservation

The micropezid fly species Calycopteryx mosleyi is associated with this plant. Both are endangered by invasive rabbits which feed on the cabbage.

External links

• Kerguelen cabbage
• Sub Antarctic