Beta L.

5. Beta L. Beta L., Sp. Pl.: 222 (1753); Coons, Proc. Amer. Soc. Sugar Beet Techn/8: 142-147 (1954); Ford-Lloyd & Williams, Bot. J. Linn. S0c.71: 89-102 (1975); Buttler, Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml Munchen 13: 255-336 (1977). Patellaria Will. & Ford-Lloyd (1976), nom. illeg. Patellifolia Will. & Ford-Lloyd (1977); Scott et al., Taxon 26: 284 (1977). Perennial or annual herbs; root woody or tleshy. Flowers rarely solitary, usually in clusters of 2-3, fused by their basally indurated perianth, the whole cluster falling off at maturity; perianth lobes greenish, sometimes petaloid, perigynous; stamens 5, filaments united basally into a fleshy ring; stigmas 2-5. Pericarp fleshy or hard; seeds horizontal; embryo subannular. Zn: 18, 36. 11 to 13 spp., Mediterranean region, W and C Asia.Published as part of Kuehn, U., 1993, Chenopodiaceae, pp. 253-281 in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants 2, Berlin, Heidelberg :Springer-Verlag on page 26