Different Broccoli Types

There are many different Broccoli types. Broccoli (Brassica oleracea), a cool season, sun-loving crop, is easy to grow in a home vegetable garden. Rich in vitamins and minerals, you can cook broccoli or serve it raw in salads and other dishes.

The majority of broccoli cultivars are cool-weather crops that do poorly in hot summer weather. Broccoli grows best when exposed to an average daily temperature between 18 and 23 °C .  When the cluster of flowers, also referred to as a “head” of broccoli, appear in the center of the plant, the cluster is generally green. Garden pruners or shears are used to cut the head about 25 mm the tip. Broccoli should be harvested before the flowers on the head bloom bright yellow.

Broccoli varieties differ mainly in the shape and size of the head, time to maturation, side shoot production, and disease resistance.

Types of broccoli:

1. Calabrese Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) – It typically grows one large, main head first. Once that head is harvested, you’ll find several smaller heads that grow within days to weeks afterward.
2. Broccoli Rapini (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa>) – It is a branching, as opposed to heading, type of broccoli. It forms multiple small heads, instead of one large central head.
3. Broccolini (Brassica oleracea var. italica × alboglabra – It is  a cross with Chinese broccoli. Broccolini has long, slim stalks with small, broccoli-like florets on top.
4. Romanesco Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Botrytis ) – Romanesco broccoli varieties are easily recognized by their unique geometric heads.