Note on "Brassica chinensis L."
" Once upon a time ", there was a cabbage named "Brassica chinensis L." by the famous Swedish taxonomist Carl von Linnaeus (1707-1778).
A scientist, who had some knowledge of Cantonese culture but shall
remain nameless, associated to the hard-to-ignore-Linneus ' cabbage
the name "Bok choy". This name was adopted by the dominant English
speaking scientific community and there started the confusion which
has been compounded forever since. The manuals on transliteration
systems and romanization dictionaries tell us that: Bok choy = bak
choi = baak choi = paak ts'oi = pak choy = pe ts'ai = pe tsai = bai
tsai = bai cai (none of these but one being valid incidently) =
accuracy 100% The bilingual dictionaries with plant names tell us
that: "Bok choy" is in fact Cantonese for the Mandarin "Bai cai" and
refers to a cabbage called
bai cai (Mandarin) or "Non-heading
Chinese cabbage" or simply "Chinese cabbage" in English. So in
conclusion this cabbage called:
in Both Mandarin and Cantonese
should not be called "xiao bai cai" or "da bai cai" but : "Pe tsai"
or "bok choy" or "bai cai" and preferably simply referred to as
"Chinese cabbage" or "Non-heading Chinese cabbage" in
English. Meanwhile the taxonomists in their wisdom have decided that
all Chinese cabbages should come under the classification
Brassica rapa (specific level)
so this cabbage which over the decades has been known as :
Brassica chinensis L. var. communis Tsen &
Lee
Brassica chinensis L.
Brassica rapa L. var. chinensis (L.) Kitam
Brassica oleracea L. var. chinensis (L.) Prain
Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis (L.) Makino
should now be called:
Brassica rapa L. ssp. chinensis (L.) Hanelt var. chinensis
("var. chinensis" is considered optional by many people. It does not generally add anything or substract anything if removed. In the context of our work however, it is relevant to distinguish as clearly as possible the typical "bok choy" from non-typical forms and closely related species and / or varieties).
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