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Beta lomatogona

(Beet)

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Beet

Description

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Genus Beta

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]

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication : R. F. Hohenacker, Bull . Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11(4):360. 1838 (Enum. pl. Talysch 124.)

Name verified on 19-Dec-1989 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 10-Jul-2002

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Beta

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 310 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

B. adanensis (Beet) · B. adenensis · B. alba · B. altissima · B. atriplicifolia (Beet) · B. bengalensis · B. bourgaei · B. brasiliensis · B. campanulata · B. carnulosa · B. chilensis · B. cicla · B. cicla occidentali · B. crispa · B. cycla · B. decumbens · B. diffusa · B. esculenta · B. foliosa · B. hastata · B. hortensis · B. hybrid · B. hybrida · B. intermedia · B. juncea var. japonica 'Mustard Lettuce' (Mustard) · B. lomatogona (Beet) · B. lutea · B. macrocarpa · B. macrorhiza · B. marina · B. maritima · B. maritima subsp. marcosii · B. monodiana · B. nana (Beet) · B. oleracea var. acephala 'Blue Armor' (Kale) · B. orientalis · B. palonga · B. patellaris (Beet) · B. patula (Beet) · B. perennis · B. procumbens (Cultivated Beet) · B. pumila · B. purpurea · B. rapa · B. rapacea · B. rubra · B. sativa · B. stricta · B. sulcata · B. sylvestris · B. triflora · B. trigyna (Caucasian Wild Beet) · B. trojana (Trojan Beet) · B. vulgaris (Red-Fleshed Beetroot) · B. vulgaris '3 Root Grex' · B. vulgaris 'Action' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Albina Vereduna' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Albino' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Alvro Mono' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Always Tender' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Asgrow Wonder' (Beet) · B. vulgaris asiatica · B. vulgaris 'Baby Ball' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Baby Gladiator' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Bietola Da Orto Paonazza D'egitto' · B. vulgaris 'Big Top' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Bikores' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Blankoma White' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Bloody Mary' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Bolivar' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Boltardy' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Bonel' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Boro' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Bull's Blood' (Bull's Blood Giant Ornamental Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Burpee's Golden' (Burpee's Golden Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Burpee's White' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Burpee's Red Ball' · B. vulgaris 'Centurion' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Chariot' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Cheltenham Green Top' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Chicago Red' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Chioggia' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Chioggia Guardsmark' · B. vulgaris cicla (Sicilian Broad-Rib Beet) · B. vulgaris cicla var. cicla · B. vulgaris cicla var. cicla 'Perpetual Spinach' · B. vulgaris cicla var. flavescens · B. vulgaris cicla var. flavescens 'Bright Lights' · B. vulgaris cicla var. flavescens 'Dracaenofolia' · B. vulgaris cicla var. flavescens 'Lucullus' · B. vulgaris cicla var. flavescens 'MacGregor's Favourite' · B. vulgaris cicla var. flavescens 'Rainbow Chard' · B. vulgaris cicla var. flavescens 'Rhubarb Chard' · B. vulgaris convar · B. vulgaris crasa · B. vulgaris crassa · B. vulgaris 'Crimson Globe' · B. vulgaris 'Crimson King' · B. vulgaris 'Crosby's Extra Early Egyptian' (Beet) · B. vulgaris 'Cylinder'

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Leila M. Shultz "Beta". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 258, 261, 266. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/2/2009