View source for Beta

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Beta
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=1: 222. 1753
|year=1753
}}, {{Treatment/Publication
|title=Gen. Pl. ed.
|place=5, 103. 1754
|year=1754
}}
|common_names=Beet;chard
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Chenopodiaceae;Beta
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Chenopodiaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Beta]]</div></div>
|etymology=derivation uncertain, possibly from Celtic name for red root
|volume=Volume 4
|mention_page=page 258, 261
|treatment_page=page 266
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Herbs,</b> annual, biennial, or perennial, often with fleshy, thickened roots, glabrous throughout. <b>Stems</b> erect or procumbent, not jointed, not armed, not fleshy. <b>Leaves</b> alternate, petiolate or sessile; blade ovate-cordate to rhombic-cuneate, margins ± entire, apex obtuse. <b>Inflorescences</b> spikelike cymes or glomerules, ebracteate at least in distal 1/2. <b>Flowers</b> 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. <b>Fruiting</b> structures achenes, connate with receptacle, often enclosed by swollen perianth. <b>Seeds</b> horizontal, orbicular or reniform; seed coat dark brown, smooth; embryo ± annular, perisperm copious. <b>x</b> = 9.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=Eurasia.
|discussion=<p>Species ca. 6 (1 in the flora).</p><!--
--><p><i>Beta</i> is widely distributed and is known especially for the economically important <i>Beta vulgaris </i>subsp.<i> vulgaris</i>, the commonly cultivated beet. The forms of the beets introduced in North America and established in the wild occupy both inland and maritime habitats.</p><!--
--><p>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 <i>Beta</i> 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 <i></i></i>subsp.<i><i> maritima</i> is usually considered ancestral to the cultivated forms of beet included within <i></i></i>subsp.<i><i> vulgaris</i>.</p>
|tables=
|references={{Treatment/Reference
|id=ford-lloyd1975a
|text=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.
}}
}}<!--

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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Beta
|author=Leila M. Shultz
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=genus
|parent rank=family
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Chenopodiaceae
|illustrator=Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey
|distribution=Eurasia.
|introduced=true
|reference=ford-lloyd1975a
|publication title=Sp. Pl.;Gen. Pl. ed.
|publication year=1753;1754
|special status=
|source xml=https://jpend@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/f6b125a955440c0872999024f038d74684f65921/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V4/V4_484.xml
|genus=Beta
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Chenopodiaceae]]