The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cruciferous \Cru*cif"er*ous\ (kr[.u]*s?f"?r-?s), a. [L. crux, crucis, cross + -ferous: cf. F. crucif[`e]re.]
Bearing a cross.
(Bot.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a family of plants which have four petals arranged like the arms of a cross, as the mustard, radish, turnip, etc.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1650s, from Late Latin crucifer "cross-bearing," from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "stake, cross" (see cross (n.)). Originally in literal senses; botanical use (in reference to a symmetrical arrangement of four petals) is from 1851.
Wiktionary
a. 1 (context botany English) Of, or relating to the crucifer plants or products from these plants; of the family Cruciferae, the cabbage family, including cabbage and mustard. 2 Bearing a cross.
WordNet
adj. of or relating to or belonging to the plant family Cruciferae
Usage examples of "cruciferous".
The cotyledons of several other cruciferous plants were observed, but they did not rise sufficiently during the night to be said to sleep.
The nitrogen of this and other cruciferous plants serves to make them emit offensive stinks when they lie out of doors and rot.
The Horse Radish of our gardens is a cultivated cruciferous plant of which the fresh root is eaten, when scraped, as a condiment to correct the richness of our national roast beef.
One of the roost useful, but not best known, of the Cruciferous wild plants which are specifics against Scrofula is our English Scurvy Grass.
It is a Cruciferous plant, made familiar by the diminutive pouches, or flattened pods at the end of its branching stems.
It is the only British species belonging to the Cruciferous order of plants, and flourishes best on the walls of old buildings, flowering nearly all the summer, though scantily supplied with moisture.
He had put down some acres of cabbage for spring feed for his small flock during the lambing season, but a cruciferous crop asks for moisture.
As members of the cabbage family, cruciferous vegetables are extremely low in calories, high in fiber, and have high levels of antioxidants.
Some new findings show that substances found in cruciferous vegetables dramatically decrease the amount of DNA damage that occurs when cells are exposed to carcinogens.
Eat cruciferous vegetables soon after you buy them, whether you eat them raw or cooked.