Beta L.
Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, glabrous or nearly so. Stems green, yellowish or red. Lvs alternate, flat or rugose, entire or nearly so; basal lvs long-petiolate, often large. Fls ⚥, 1-few in cymes; cymes in spicate infls. Bracteoles 2. Perianth segments 5, usually green, incurved, thickening and hardening towards base at fruiting. Stamens 5. Ovary semi-inferior. Stigmas 2-3. Frs often adhering together by the enlarged perianth, the whole fruiting mass or glomerule forming a hard mass. Seed 1, horizontal, tightly enclosed in covering mainly formed by perianth.
c. 10 spp., Europe, W. Asia. Naturalised sp. 1.
