Question

Which of the following is not evolved from wild cabbage?
A. Kale
B. Broccoli
C. Lettuce
D. Kohlrabi

Answer 1

Hint: The evolution of plants and animals is a natural process. But, sometimes humans deliberately crossbreed or select superior qualities to evolve them artificially. An example of this is the development of cabbage by selecting a short petiole and evolving it over time.

Complete answer: The plans are very good adaptors and thus produce various variations to evolve in superior qualities. But humans too have developed some methods by which they can artificially evolve the plant species to develop more superior and high yield qualities. This is called artificial selection or artificial breeding. The wild cabbage was artificially evolved to cabbage by employing the selection and propagation of a short petiole.
-Kale was developed from the cabbage by deliberately selecting and propagating large leaves characteristics of the cabbage plant.
-Broccoli was also artificially produced. It was developed from selecting arrested flower development seen in wild cabbage.
-Lettuce was not developed by any artificial selection of characteristics of the wild cabbage. It was cultivated independently in ancient Egypt initially.
-Kohlrabi at last is also a product of artificial selection from the wild cabbage. It was developed by deliberately propagating swollen parts of the cabbage plant.
So from the above discussion, we can conclude that it is lettuce that is not evolved from wild cabbage. Therefore, option C is correct.

Note: Artificial selection is an advantageous technique that is employed to create superior variety and high yielding crops. But extensive selection by humans has led to some inferior evolutions that led to the extinction of some important species. Thus, these techniques should be employed very carefully.