Does Canola Oil come from canolas?

No........Canola Oil comes from the seed of the rapeseed plant.

The rapeseed plant is in the turnip family. In fact, the word "rape" comes from the Latin word "rapum", meaning "turnip". Also in the same family are rutabagas, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and mustard.

The rapeseed plant has been recorded in history for hundreds and hundreds of years, especially in India and China. The oil from the seed has been used as oil for lamps, as lubricants, in cosmetics and soaps, and in recent years, as a bio-diesel fuel. Rapeseed meal, not the oil, is used in animal food in England and Europe. Prior to the 1960's it was not used as human food because of high levels of acids that cause health problems.
In the 1960's scientists in Canada used selective breeding to grow rapeseed with a low acid content, thus making it usable for human food. Because of the bad connotation of the word "rape", the new oil product was named Canola, from the words----Canadian Oil Low Acid.

The English climate is well-suited to growing rapeseed because of the mild summers. It is also grown in other parts of Europe, in Canada, and in some of the northern states in the U.S. In England there is a spring crop, and there is also a fall crop. The photos (that we took over the weekend at Lytes Cary) show the rapeseed field and plant.