SPECIES DESCRIPTION
BETA VULGARIS s. lat.
Including:
The taxa are often treated at species level, but merge into each other in the Aegean
area, with no ecological or geographical differences, subsp.maritima being the most
common.1)
1) "Atlas of the Aegean Flora" Book1, Arne Strid 2016.
Family and Genus:- See- AMARANTHACEAE
Common Name:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Beta (L) Beet
Vulgaris (L) Common, vulgar.
General description:- Annual to perennial, with a fusiform or swollen taproot
Stems:-
1) 20-60 cm, procumbent to suberect.
Leaves:-
1) Alternate, petiolate.
a) blade of the lower leaves 3-10 cm, ovate to triangular-rhomboid, somewhat
fleshy.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, paniculate, composed of several spike-like branches.
2) Flowers, hermaphrodite, usually in sessile clusters of 2-6, small, 5-merous,
greenish.
3) Perianth segments, 1-3 mm, cucullate.
4) Ovary, semi-inferior.
Fruit:-
1) Utricle, enclosed in a persistent perianth base, circumscissile,1-seeded.
2) Seed,1.5-3 mm, suborbicular to reniform.
a) testa reddish-brown, shiny, minutely verrculose.
A very variable species; the wild progenitor of sugar beet, mangold, beetroot, etc.
Habitat:- Saltmarshes, gravelly beaches and other coastal habitats, sometimes in
wasteground and fallow fields up to 200 m.
Distribution:- Throughout Greece, widespread on Mediterranean and Atlantic
coasts and inland on saline soils in SW Asia; On Crete scattered around coastal
regions.
Flowering time:- Mar-Aug
BETA VULGARIS subsp. ADANENSIS Back to Top
Homotypic Synonyms:- Beta adanensis
Meaning:- Adanensis (L) From Adana, Turkey.
Resembling Beta vulgaris, but differering in the following characters:
Stems:-
1) Up to 100 cm, branched from the base.
Leaves:-
1) Basal deltoid.
a) cauline, rhombic-spathulate.
b) lower, ones petiolate.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, with leaf-like bracts.
2) Perianth segment, thick or spongy, appressed to the utricle lid in fruit.
3) Utricle, without high marginal walls.
Photos by:- Renata Kouraki
BETA VULGARIS subsp. MACROCARPA Back to Top
Homotypic Synonyms:- Beta macrocarpa.
Meaning:- Macrocarpa (Gr) Large fruited.
Resembling Beta vulgaris, but differering in the following characters:
General description:- Annual
Stems:-
1) Up to 100 cm, branched from the base.
Leaves:-
a) basal deltoid.
b) cauline, rhombic-spathulate.
c) lower, ones petiolate.
Flowers:-
1) Perianth:
a) segments not appressed to the utricle lid in fruit.
2) Utricle, with high marginal walls.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
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