- rutabaga
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/rooh'teuh bay"geuh, rooh"teuh bay'-/, n.1. a brassicaceous plant, Brassica napobrassica, having a yellow- or white-fleshed, edible tuber.2. the edible tuber, a variety of turnip. Also called Swedish turnip.
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Swedish turnip (Brassica napus) in the mustard family.A hardy biennial, the rutabaga is a cool-season plant cultivated for its fleshy roots and tender leaves. Related to the turnip, it requires a longer growing season but is more tolerant of cold; in addition, its flesh is firmer and more nutritious and its roots keep much better during winter. White-fleshed varieties have a rough, green skin and bright canary-coloured flowers. Yellow-fleshed varieties have a smooth green, purple, or bronze skin and buff-yellow or pale orange flowers. Rutabagas are extensively cultivated as a vegetable and as a cattle fodder crop in Canada, Britain, and northern Europe, and to a lesser extent in the U.S.* * *
root vegetable closely related to the turnip. See turnip.* * *
Universalium. 2010.