Crambe comes from the Greek krambe meaning 'cabbage', referring to it being part of the Brassicaceae family. Often good, large, foliage plants and producing many 4-petalled often white, flowers, during spring. C. maritima is the edible seakale, long grown in kitchen and vegetable gardens. The leaves are better 'blanched', which can be achieved as with rhubarb, by covering with a forcing pot.
Crambe species are generally found in dry habitats. In a dry garden their white sweetly scented flowers provide a reliable nectar source to a large number of pollinators from bees to pollen-beetles. Many other insects feed on the vegetative parts, including weevils, moth caterpillars and the larvae of the two 'cabbage whites', large and small white butterflies.