Citation: L., Sp. Pl. 222 (1753).

Derivation: The Latin name for the beet.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: None

Description:
Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, glabrous; leaves flat, entire.

Flowers bisexual, in small clusters forming a slender spike; clusters subtended by a bract and a pair of bracteoles; perianth 5-lobed; stamens 5; ovary semi-inferior, adnate to the perianth tube; stigmas 2 or 3, sessile, ovate, papillose on the inner surface.

Fruit with a hard apex which eventually falls away as an operculum; seed horizontal; testa crustaceous; embryo almost annular; perisperm abundant, central.

Distribution:  About 7 species from Europe and Asia one of which is adventive in Australia.

Biology: No text

Author: Not yet available