Editing Rutabaga (section)

==History==
[[File:Steckrübe.jpg|thumb|Longitudinal section of a root]]
The first known printed reference to the rutabaga comes from the Swiss botanist [[Gaspard Bauhin]] in 1620, where he notes that it was growing wild in Sweden. It is often considered to have originated in [[Scandinavia]], [[Finland]] or [[Russia]].<ref name="Hawkes">Hawkes, Alex D. 1968. ''A World of Vegetable Cookery.'' New York: Simon and Schuster.</ref> According to the [[Natural Resources Institute Finland]] (now Luke), rutabaga or {{Lang|fi|lanttu}} was most likely bred on more than one occasion in Northern Europe around the 16th century. Studies by its research institute have shown that {{Lang|fi|lanttu}} was developed independently in Finland and Sweden from turnip and cabbage in connection with seed cultivation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geenit valottavat vanhaa viljelykulttuuria |url=https://portal.mtt.fi/portal/page/portal/www/Tietopaketit/Monimuotoisuus/Geenivarat/Geenivarojen%20merkitys/Geenit%20kertovat%20viljelykulttuurista |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026181042/https://portal.mtt.fi/portal/page/portal/www/Tietopaketit/Monimuotoisuus/Geenivarat/Geenivarojen%20merkitys/Geenit%20kertovat%20viljelykulttuurista |archive-date=2020-10-26 |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=[[Natural Resources Institute Finland]] |language=fi}}</ref> There are contradictory accounts of how rutabaga arrived in England. Some sources say it arrived in England from Germany, while other accounts support Swedish origins. According to [[Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet|John Sinclair]], the root vegetable arrived in England from Germany around 1750.<ref>{{Cite journal| issn = 0002-1482| volume = 23| issue = 4| pages = 286–288| last = Harvey| first = Nigel| title = The Coming of the Swede to Great Britain: An Obscure Chapter in Farming History| journal = Agricultural History| date = 1949| jstor = 3740589}}</ref> Rutabaga arrived in [[Scotland]] by way of Sweden around 1781.<ref>{{Cite OED|Swede}}</ref>

An article in ''[[The Gardeners' Chronicle]]'' suggests that the rutabaga was introduced more widely to England in 1790. Introduction to [[North America]] came in the early 19th century with reports of rutabaga crops in [[Illinois]] as early as 1817.<ref name="Sturtevant">Sturtevant, E. L. 1919. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6_XiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA105 ''Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417084131/https://books.google.com/books?id=6_XiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA105 |date=17 April 2023 }} Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company, p. 105.</ref> In 1835, a rutabaga fodder crop was recommended to New York farmers in the Genesee River valley.<ref>James Houghton (1835) [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3102420&view=1up&seq=19 The Culture of Ruta Baga] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716074322/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3102420&view=1up&seq=19 |date=16 July 2020 }}, [[Genesee Farmer]] via [[HathiTrust]]</ref>

Rutabaga was considered a [[Famine food|food of last resort]] in both Germany and France due to its association with food shortages in [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. Boiled stew with rutabaga and water as the only ingredients ([[Steckrübeneintopf]]) was a typical food in Germany during the famines and food shortages of World War I caused by the [[Blockade of Germany (1914–1919)|Allied blockade]] (the {{Lang|de|Steckrübenwinter}} or [[Turnip Winter]] of 1916–17) and between 1945 and 1949. As a result, many older Germans had unhappy memories of this food.<ref>{{citation|url=https://talkingfoodmagazine.co.uk/back-to-our-roots/|title=Back to our Roots|date=7 February 2019|publisher=Talking Food magazine|access-date=5 February 2020|archive-date=12 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812233839/https://talkingfoodmagazine.co.uk/back-to-our-roots/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Botanical history===
Rutabaga has a complex [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] history. The earliest account comes from the Swiss botanist [[Gaspard Bauhin]], who wrote about it in his 1620 ''Prodromus''.<ref name="Sturtevant" /> ''Brassica&nbsp;napobrassica'' was first validly published by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his 1753 work ''[[Species Plantarum]]'' as a [[variety (botany)|variety]] of ''[[Brassica oleracea|B.&nbsp;oleracea]]'': ''B.&nbsp;oleracea'' var. ''napobrassica''.<ref name="IPNI1">{{IPNI|id=60452368-2|accessdate=30 October 2009}}</ref> It has since been moved to other taxa as a variety, [[subspecies]], or elevated to species rank. In 1768, a Scottish botanist promoted Linnaeus' variety to species rank as ''Brassica&nbsp;napobrassica'' in ''[[The Gardeners Dictionary]]''.<ref name="IPNI2">{{IPNI |taxon=Brassica napobrassica |id=72249-3|accessdate=30 October 2009}}</ref>

Rutabaga has a [[chromosome number]] of 2''n''&nbsp;= 38. It originated from a cross between [[turnip]] (''[[Turnip|Brassica rapa]]'') and ''[[Brassica oleracea]]''. The resulting cross doubled its chromosomes, becoming an [[Allotetraploid#Allopolyploidy|allopolyploid]]. This relationship was first published by [[Woo Jang-choon]] in 1935 and is known as the [[Triangle of U]].<ref name="Dixon 2007">Dixon, G.R. 2007. ''Vegetable Brassicas and Related Crucifers.'' CABI: Oxfordshire, UK. pp. 6–36.</ref>