362 articles
Betula utilis
Betula utilis, Himalayan birch or bhojpatra, is a white- to copper-barked Himalayan tree to 35 m with four subspecies including the white-barked jacquemontii; its bark served as paper for yantras, and it dominates Western Himalayan timberlines.
Bing cherry
The Bing cherry is a sweet cherry cultivar created in 1875 in Milwaukie, Oregon, by horticulturist Seth Lewelling, who named it for his Chinese orchard foreman, Ah Bing.
Bird's eye chili
Bird's eye chili (prik kee noo, cili padi) is a trade name for small, upright, very hot chilies of Capsicum annuum or C. frutescens, 2–4 cm, 50,000–100,000 SHU, central to Southeast Asian and African cooking.
Bitter orange
Bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium), also Seville or sour orange, is a pomelo × mandarin hybrid citrus tree. First orange in Europe (10th century), used for marmalade, Triple Sec, neroli oil, rootstock; supplements contain p-synephrine, an NCAA-banned stimulant.
Black turtle bean
Black turtle bean (frijol negro), a small shiny black-seeded variety of Phaseolus vulgaris, staple of Latin American cuisine; classic cultivar Black Turtle Soup, second-leading US dry bean class after pinto, Michigan producing about 46%.
Black-eyed pea
Black-eyed pea, a market type of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), also called southern pea or crowder pea; African-domesticated legume with a black hilum, spread via the Columbian Exchange, central to hoppin' John and New Year's luck traditions.
Blackberry
Blackberry (Rubus subgenus Rubus): solid-core aggregate bramble fruit, unlike hollow raspberries. Over 400 cultivars; Mexico leads production (250,000 MT forecast 2025); invasive weed in Australia.
Blackcurrant
Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum, cassis) is a Grossulariaceae shrub grown for black, vitamin C- and anthocyanin-rich berries; key cultivars include Ben Lomond and Ben Hope, with major production in Europe and New Zealand.
Blaufränkisch
Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos, Lemberger, Frankovka) is an autochthonous Austrian red wine grape, a Heunisch-Sbulzina cross first described in 1777, dominant in Burgenland's Mittelburgenland and made as DAC wines in several Austrian regions.
Blitum bonus-henricus
Blitum bonus-henricus, Good King Henry or perennial goosefoot, is a European Amaranthaceae perennial herb once widely grown as a spinach-like vegetable and medicinal plant, now a declining archaeophyte relic of cultivation.
Blood orange
The blood orange, also called red orange, is a sweet orange variety with red flesh from anthocyanin pigments, grown in Sicily since the fifteenth century.
Blue Java banana
Blue Java banana, also called Ice Cream banana or Ney Mannan, is an ABB-group Musa acuminata × balbisiana cultivar from Java with silvery blue-green unripe peel that turns yellow, creamy flesh, and cold tolerance.
Blue rose
A blue rose is a rose with blue or violet-blue color, impossible naturally because roses cannot make the pigment delphinidin; engineered versions were announced in 2004.
Blueberry
Blueberry: fruit of Vaccinium shrubs, chiefly highbush V. corymbosum. Domesticated 1911-1916 by Coville and Elizabeth White at Whitesbog, NJ; needs acidic soil; US crop about 760-790 million pounds.
Boysenberry
Boysenberry, a large soft reddish-purple Rubus hybrid berry from 1920s California, developed by Rudolph Boysen and commercialized by Walter Knott; parentage involves loganberry, raspberry, and blackberry; New Zealand is now the largest producer.
Brassica
Brassica is a genus of about 40 Mediterranean-native herbs in Brassicaceae, the mustard family. Its six crop species (Triangle of U) include B. oleracea (cabbage, broccoli, kale) and B. napus (canola).
Brassica juncea
Brassica juncea (Indian mustard, brown mustard, rai) is an AABB amphidiploid Brassicaceae species grown as condiment, oilseed, and vegetable, dominant in India, and bred since the 1980s as canola-quality juncea canola.
Brassica oleracea
Brassica oleracea (wild cabbage) is a Brassicaceae species whose cultivars include cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts; closest wild relative B. cretica, Eastern Mediterranean origin, C-genome n=9.
Brassica rapa
Brassica rapa (field mustard, turnip, bok choy, napa cabbage, turnip rape) is a diploid Brassicaceae crop species (2n=20, A genome), domesticated in Central Asia 3,430–5,930 years ago, parent of B. napus, with a published 41,174-gene genome.
Broccoli
Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica), also called sprouting or Calabrese broccoli, is a cruciferous vegetable eaten for its immature flower-bud head; cool-season crop, rich in vitamins C and K, stored at 0°C, major US vegetable crop.
Broccolini
Broccolini, also sold as baby broccoli, tenderstem, or bimi, is a trademarked hybrid of broccoli and gai lan (Chinese kale) bred by Japan's Sakata Seed, released in 1993, with long tender edible stems, mild sweet flavor, and multi-cut harvests.
Brussels sprout
Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera, choux de Bruxelles) is a tall-stemmed cabbage grown for its edible axillary buds. Originating near Brussels, Belgium, first recorded 1587; yields 50-100 sprouts per plant, sweetened by frost.
Buddha's hand
Buddha's hand, also called fingered citron or bushukan, is a fragrant citron variety whose fruit splits into finger-like segments, grown for its form and intense lemon-like fragrance.
Buddleja davidii
Buddleja davidii, commonly called butterfly bush or summer lilac, is a fragrant flowering shrub native to China, widely grown for attracting butterflies though invasive in several temperate regions.
Butternut squash
Butternut squash, a cultivar group of Cucurbita moschata, is a winter squash with sweet orange flesh; the shortnecked type arose in the 1930s from a crookneck cultivar, Waltham is the standard cultivar, and it stores best at 15°C.
Buxus sempervirens
Buxus sempervirens, common box or boxwood, an evergreen European-to-Iranian shrub used since Roman times for hedges and topiary; threatened by boxwood blight, box tree moth, and psyllid.
Cabbage
Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata, kanran 甘藍) is a head-forming brassica crop domesticated from wild European coastal cabbage, with green, red, savoy, and Napa types, grown in cool 15-18 °C conditions.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon, historically also called Vidure, is a red wine grape and the world's most widely planted variety, central to Bordeaux and grown from Napa Valley to China.
Caesar salad
Caesar salad, also called Aviator salad, is a green salad of romaine, croutons, and Parmesan, created in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1924 by restaurateur Caesar Cardini.
Calabaza
Calabaza, also called West Indian pumpkin or kalabasa, is the tropical pumpkin of the squash species Cucurbita moschata, grown for its large, sweet, deep-orange-fleshed fruit across Latin America and the Caribbean.