broccoli [Ital.,=sprouts], variety of cabbage grown for the edible immature flower panicles. It is the same variety (Brassica oleracea botrytis) as the cauliflower and is similarly cultivated. Although known to the Romans, it became generally popular in the United States only in the 20th cent. Broccoli is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Capparales, family Cruciferae.