SEA-BEET 351 



Chenopodium (Fat Hen or Goose-foot), Atriplex (Oraches), and 

 Beta (Beet and Mangel). 



The genus Chenopodium includes a number of annual species 

 widely distributed on waste ground, and often prevalent as weeds 

 upon well-manured arable land. They are all very variable 

 plants and difficult to distinguish from each other. Perhaps 

 the commonest species is White Goose-foot or Pat Hen (C. 

 album L.) (see p. S96). 



Good King Henry or All-good (C. Bonus-Henricus L.) is a 

 perennial species sometimes used instead of spinach as a pot- 

 herb, and frequently found on waste ground near villages. 



The genus Atripkx embraces a number of variable species, 

 most of which somewhat resemble the Goose-foot in outward 

 appearance. They are however monoecious (see p. 596). 



To the genus Beia belong wild sea-beet, and the cultivated 

 garden and field beets. 



2. Sea-Beet (Beta maritima L.) is a perennial plant common 

 on muddy sea shores. The root is tough, moderately thick, and 

 fleshy. The angular stems, which are many and branched, are 

 prostrate below, but their tips curve upwards- to a height of 

 I or 2 feet. The lower leaves are smooth, about 3 or 4 

 inches long, fleshy, ovate-triangular, and the blade narrowed into 

 the broad petiole ; the upper ones smaller and lanceolate. The 

 inflorescence, flowers, and fruit resemble those of the mangel 

 described below. 



3. A large number of cultivated forms of beet are known, some 

 of which are grown chiefly in gardens, and used as a vegetable 

 for human consumption, while others, such as mangels and 

 sugar-beet, are cultivated on the farm. They vary much in the 

 colour and sugar content of their so-called fleshy ' roots,' and also 

 in their resistance to frost. The shape and amount of the ' root ' 

 which appears above the soil is also subject to variation. All 

 the forms appear to be merely varieties of one species, which has 

 been named Common Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) They differ from 



