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-d0_s0" data-properties="whole_organism duration;whole_organism duration;whole_organism duration;whole_organism duration;whole_organism duration;whole_organism pubescence;whole_organism growth form;root texture;root size or width"><b>Herbs,</b> annual, biennial, or perennial, often with fleshy, thickened roots, glabrous throughout.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s1" data-properties="stem orientation;stem growth form;stem architecture;stem architecture;stem texture"><b>Stems </b>erect or procumbent, not jointed, not armed, not fleshy.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s2" data-properties="leaf arrangement;leaf architecture;leaf architecture"><b>Leaves </b>alternate, petiolate or sessile;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s3" data-properties="blade shape;margin architecture or shape;apex shape">blade ovate-cordate to rhombic-cuneate, margins ± entire, apex obtuse.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s4" data-properties="inflorescence architecture;cyme shape;cyme architecture;glomerule shape;glomerule architecture"><b>Inflorescences </b>spikelike cymes or glomerules, ebracteate at least in distal 1/2.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s5" data-properties="flower reproduction;flower architecture"><b>Flowers </b>bisexual, bracteate;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s6" data-properties="perianth segment quantity;perianth segment fusion;perianth segment architecture;perianth segment shape;perianth segment shape;wing presence;spine presence">perianth segments 3–5, distinct, sometimes petaloid, rounded or keeled abaxially, wings and spines absent;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s7" data-properties="stamen quantity">stamens 5;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s8" data-properties="ovary position">ovary semi-inferior;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s9" data-properties="">stigmas usually 2–3 (–5), connate basally.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s10" data-properties="stigma atypical quantity;stigma quantity;stigma fusion;receptacle fusion;perianth shape"><b>Fruiting </b>structures achenes, connate with receptacle, often enclosed by swollen perianth.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s11" data-properties="seed orientation;seed shape;seed shape"><b>Seeds </b>horizontal, orbicular or reniform;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s12" data-properties="seed-coat coloration;seed-coat architecture or pubescence or relief">seed-coat dark-brown, smooth;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s13" data-properties="embryo shape">embryo ± annular, perisperm copious.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s14" data-properties="perisperm quantity;x chromosome quantity">x = 9.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=Eurasia
|introduced=true
|discussion=<p>Species ca. 6 (1 in the flora).</p><!--
--><p>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.</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 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.</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.
}}
}}<!--

--><!--

-->{{#Taxon:
name=Beta
|author=Leila M. Shultz
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=genus
|parent rank=family
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Chenopodiaceae
|illustrator=Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey
|illustration copyright=Flora of North America Association
|distribution=Eurasia
|introduced=true
|reference=ford-lloyd1975a
|publication title=Sp. Pl.;Gen. Pl. ed.
|publication year=1753;1754
|special status=
|source xml=https://bibilujan@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-fine-grained-xml.git/src/84153f6d59a0a91d69695978a64cee7560374f8e/V4/V4_484.xml
|genus=Beta
|apex shape=obtuse
|blade shape=ovate-cordate;rhombic-cuneate
|cyme architecture=ebracteate
|cyme shape=spikelike
|embryo shape=annular
|flower architecture=bracteate
|flower reproduction=bisexual
|glomerule architecture=ebracteate
|glomerule shape=spikelike
|inflorescence architecture=ebracteate
|leaf architecture=sessile;petiolate
|leaf arrangement=alternate
|margin architecture or shape=entire
|ovary position=semi-inferior
|perianth segment architecture=petaloid
|perianth segment fusion=distinct
|perianth segment quantity=3;5
|perianth segment shape=keeled;rounded
|perianth shape=swollen
|perisperm quantity=copious
|receptacle fusion=connate
|root size or width=thickened
|root texture=fleshy
|seed orientation=horizontal
|seed shape=reniform;orbicular
|seed-coat architecture or pubescence or relief=smooth
|seed-coat coloration=dark-brown
|spine presence=absent
|stamen quantity=5
|stem architecture=not armed;not jointed
|stem growth form=procumbent
|stem orientation=erect
|stem texture=not fleshy
|stigma atypical quantity=3;5
|stigma fusion=connate
|stigma quantity=2;3
|whole_organism duration=perennial;biennial;perennial;biennial;annual
|whole_organism growth form=herb
|whole_organism pubescence=glabrous
|wing presence=absent
|x chromosome quantity=9
}}<!--

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