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Beta

(Genus)

Herbs, annual, biennial, or perennial, often with fleshy, thickened roots, glabrous throughout. Stems erect or procumbent, not jointed, not armed, not fleshy. Leaves alternate, petiolate or sessile; blade ovate-cordate to rhombic-cuneate, margins ± entire, apex obtuse . Inflorescences spikelike cymes or glomerules, ebracteate at least in distal 1/2. Flowers bisexual, bracteate; perianth segments 3-5, distinct, sometimes petaloid, rounded or keeled abaxially, wings and spines absent; stamens 5; ovary semi-inferior; stigmas usually 2-3(-5), connate basally. Fruiting structures achenes, connate with receptacle, often enclosed by swollen perianth. Seeds horizontal, orbicular or reniform; seed coat dark brown, smooth; embryo ± annular, perisperm copious. x = 9.

Species ca. 6: introduced; Eurasia.

Beta is widely distributed and is known especially for the economically important Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris, the commonly cultivated beet. The forms of the beets introduced in North America and established in the wild occupy both inland and maritime habitats.

The taxonomy of the genus is complicated by a long history of cultivation in which selective breeding has caused a bewildering array of diverse morphologies. In looking at the differences between the two forms of Beta that occasionally become established in waste places in North America,it is tempting to segregate the clearly distinct forms as different species. However, a number of researchers documenting the variation within the complex (B. V. Ford-Lloyd and J. T. Williams 1975; H. Van Kijk and B. Desplanque 1999) agree that the range of variation stretches along a continuum between the two extreme types defined by the maritima and vulgaris groups. The morphological lineage assigned here to subsp. maritima is usually considered ancestral to the cultivated forms of beet included within subsp. vulgaris.[1]

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Map

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Taxonomy

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The Genus Beta is further organized into finer groupings including:

Bibliography

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  • Ford-Lloyd, B. V. and J. T. Williams. 1975. A revision of Beta section Vulgares (Chenopodiaceae), with new light on the origin of cultivated herbs. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 71: 89-102.

Footnotes

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  1. Leila M. Shultz "Beta". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 258, 261, 266. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Sources

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  • The distribution map on this page comes from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and is used with permission.
  • Photographs on this page are copyrighted by individual photographers, and individual copyrights apply.
  • The GMapImageCutter is used under license from the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.
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Last Revised: May 29, 2008