Available: Yes

A genetically diverse variety. Leaf color ranges from light green to dark green to yellow-green. Leaf margin is entire to wavy. Leaf blistering also varies. Growth habit semi-prostrate to upright. Some plants have a slight tendency to form a head. Plants reach 2' tall and 3' wide. Variety has a strong mustardy flavor and slight sweetness. This heirloom variety is from William Alexander of Columbia, North Carolina. Mr. Alexander is an African-American farmer who has saved seed all his life, since about 1940. He can’t recall where he first got the collard seed, though it was probably from his father. William likes the variety's slight heading trait and selects for that when he saves seeds. In 2004, he gave some seeds of the variety to Dr. Edward Davis, a professor of geography at Emory & Henry College, who was collecting heirloom collard strains for preservation on behalf of the USDA. Seed Savers Exchange requested this variety in 2016 from the USDA collection (PI 662816). SSE Accession # 133044