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Beta vulgaris maritima
| Common name: |
Sea Beet |
Family: |
Chenopodiaceae |
| Author: |
(L.)Arcangeli. |
Botanical references: |
17, 200 |
| Synonyms: |
Beta maritima (L.) |
| Known Hazards: |
None known |
| Range: |
Coastal areas of Europe, including Britain, south and east to N. Africa and Asia to the East Indies. |
| Habitat: |
Banks and shingle by the coast[5]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
2 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 2 |
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. |
| B. perennis[G]
B. vulgaris[B,C,ENERGY,E,G,H,HPIC,L,P]
B. vulgaris ssp. maritima[B,P]
B. vulgaris subsp. maritima[G,H]
B. vulgaris var. maritima[G]
B. vulgaris var. perennis[G]
|
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Acelga [E], Beet [E], Beetroot [H], Betterave [E], Betterouge [E], Betterouge Potagere [E], Common Beet [P], Garden Beet [H], Mexico [E], Remolacha [E], Root Beet [L], Sea Beet [H,B,P], Strandbiet [D], Wild Spinach [H], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
maritima = on the sea-coast;
vulgaris = common;
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA Plants Database |
|
Order: Caryophyllales. Goosefoot family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Chile; Dominican Republic; France; Germany; Haiti; Hungary; India; Remolacha; Spain; Us
|
| Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds | From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia
, DEFRA Injurious Weeds | | Listed as noxious/invasive for: . |
Physical Characteristics
Annual/Perennial growing to 1.2m. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind.
We rate it 2/5 for edibility and
2/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils.
It cannot grow in the shade.
It requires moist soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Cultivated Beds.Edible Uses
Leaves.
Young leaves - raw or cooked[5, 12, 16, 21]. A delicious spinach
substitute in the spring, the leaves become less pleasant as the season
progresses, developing a distinct bitterness in hot weather[K]. Some people
dislike the raw leaves since they can leave an unpleasant taste in the
mouth[K].
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Antitumor; Emmenagogue.
Although little used in modern herbalism, beet has a long history of
folk use, especially in the treatment of tumours[269].
A decoction prepared from the seed has been used as a remedy for tumours of
the intestines. The seed, boiled in water, is said to cure genital
tumours[269].
The juice or other parts of the plant is said to help in the treatment of
tumours, leukaemia and other forms of cancer such as cancer of the breast,
oesophagus, glands, head, intestines, leg, lip, lung, prostate, rectum,
spleen, stomach, and uterus[269]. Some figure that betacyanin and anthocyanin
are important in the exchange of substances of cancer cells; others note two
main components of the amines, choline and its oxidation product betaine,
whose absence produces tumours in mice[269]. The juice has been applied to
ulcers[269].
A decoction is used as a purgative by those who suffer from haemorrhoids in
South Africa[269].
Leaves and roots used as an emmenagogue[269].
Plant effective in the treatment of feline ascariasis[269].
In the old days, beet juice was recommended as a remedy for anaemia and
yellow jaundice, and, put into the nostrils to purge the head, clear ringing
ears, and alleviate toothache[269]. Beet juice in vinegar was said to rid the
scalp of dandruff as scurf, and was recommended to prevent falling hair[269].
Juice of the white beet was said to clear obstructions of the liver and
spleen[269]. Culpepper (1653) recommended it for treating headache and
vertigo as well as all affections of the brain[269].
Other Uses
None known
Cultivation details
Beets grow well in a variety of soils, growing best in a deep, friable
well-drained soil abundant with organic matter, but doing poorly on clay.
They prefer an open position and a light well-drained soil[52]. The optimum
pH is 6.0 - 6.8, but neutral and alkaline soils are tolerated in some areas.
Some salinity may be tolerated after the seedling stage. Beets are notable
for their tolerance to manganese toxicity. Beet is reported to tolerate an
annual precipitation of 23 to 315cm, an average annual temperature range of
5.0 to 26.6°C and a pH of 4.2 to 8.2[269].
This is the wild beetroot of coastal areas. The cultivated beetroot, sugar
beet, seakale beet and Swiss chard have all been developed from this species
by means of selective breeding[1, 5].
Propagation
Seed - sow March to May in situ.
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
Web References
References for Beta maritima (a possible synonym).
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
References for Beta vulgaris (a possible synonym).
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos)
from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [V] Images
from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
- [B] Data
(Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [HEC] Use, Folk Medicine, etc. from Handbook of Energy Crops by James Duke
References for Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima (a possible synonym).
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
References for Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima (a possible synonym).
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
References for Beta vulgaris var. maritima (a possible synonym).
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
References for beta vulgaris (a possible synonym).
References for the family Chenopodiaceae.
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.
[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.
[16] Simons. New Vegetable Growers Handbook. Penguin 1977 ISBN 0-14-046-050-0
A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.
[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[269] Duke. J. Handbook of Energy Crops - 1983
Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of plants.
Readers Comments
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