276 Account of the Species and Varieties of Beets. 



numerous and small in the centre ; the outer footstalks are 

 six or seven inches long, those and the nerves are of a deep 

 red, and the leaves themselves, which are short and roundish, 

 are of a dark lurid purple, and very shining ; the root in 

 the widest part is little more than two inches in diameter, 

 and is shaped much like a carrot of that dimension ; it grows 

 regularly, has no fangs, but only fibres ; the flesh of the 

 root is of a much deeper crimson than that of any yet no- 

 ticed, and does not exhibit the marks of rings distinctly. 

 It boils of a deep colour, and is very tender and de- 

 licate. This has been mistaken for the Red Beet of Castel- 

 naudari, which, from the specimens of it that have been pro- 

 duced this year, in the garden of the Society, is certainly 

 quite different. 



The sixth variety of the Red Beet, is the Bette-rave Rouge de 

 Catelnaudari ; it is so called from a town in the province of 

 Languedoc in France, where the soil is peculiarly adapted 

 to the growth of these vegetables, and where this variety, 

 which is so much esteemed by the French for its superior 

 flavour, which they compare to that of a nut, was originally 

 produced. The root grows within the earth ; the leaves are 

 thickly clustered round the crown, spreading on the ground ; 

 the longest of the footstalks does not exceed three inches ; 

 these, and the veins of the leaves, are quite purple, whilst the 

 leaves themselves are green, having only a slight stain of 

 purple, which proceeds from the borders of the veins ; the 

 root is little more than two inches in diameter at the top, 

 tapering gradually to the length of nine inches, and is covered 

 with fibres of different sizes ; it is of a deep purple colour, 

 exhibiting dark rings. It preserves its fine colour when 



