Pringlea antiscorbutica is a plant which looks somewhat like the common cabbage and belongs to the same family (Brassicaceae). It was named after the island of its discovery, Kerguelen Island, and it's latin 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.
The first account of the cabbage was published by the English botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker on his return from the voyage of the Erebus and Terror in 1839-43.
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Pringlea antiscorbutica |
Brassicas are a family of insect-pollinated plants, but the Kerguelen Cabbage has adapted itself to the absence of winged insects on subantarctic islands for wind pollination.
The Kerguelen Cabbage can be found elsewhere in the Southern Ocean, on the Crozet Archipelago and Marion Island.
Winged insects are not found on these islands due to the strong winds which blow more or less continually.
It has projecting stamens (male parts) and long threadlike projections on the stigma (female part).
The leaves of the cabbage contain a pale-yellow, highly pungent essential oil which is rich in ascorbic acid (Vitamin C): this made it a useful dietary supplement against scurvy for early sailors.
During the stay of the sealers and scientific expeditions to Kerguelen the vegetable was used either alone or with ship's beef, pork, or sealmeat.
