The Sugar-Beet Plant 23 



Whether this plant is really distinct, or is itself a variety 

 of Beta maritima, is not certain." l Those who hold 

 that the cultivated forms and the wild coast plant are the 

 same species, use the name Beta vulgaris (which is the 

 older) for the entire group. Those who prefer to keep 

 them botanically separate, use the names B. vulgaris for 

 the cultivated plant and B. maritima for the wild Beta. 



HABIT OF GROWTH 



The sugar-beet is ordinarily a biennial, storing food in 

 the root during the first year, and sending up seed stalks 

 the second. In some climates there is a tendency for 

 many plants to produce seed the first year, particularly 

 if there has been a period of drought or other conditions 

 causing a temporary rest in the growth of the plant. The 

 plant may also live and produce seed during a number of 

 successive years if it is kept alive during the winter. 



Many beet plants do not produce seed even during the 

 second year but continue throughout the season to send 

 out an abundant growth of foliage without sending up 

 root-stalks. This condition is probably due, in part at 

 least, to environmental facts, since the percentage of 

 beets failing to produce seed varies greatly during differ- 

 ent seasons. Some years this lack of fruiting is rather 

 serious in fields producing beet seed. 



The Beta maritima, in its native habitat along the 

 Mediterranean, completes its cycle of growth in one year. 

 The self-planted seed germinates in the fall and produces 

 considerable growth before its activity is reduced by the 



1 Percival, " Agricultural Botany," p. 352. 



