From the Celtic bett—red.

Annual, biennial or perennial herbs with woody or fleshy roots. Leaves alternate, entire, long-stalked at the base of the plant. Flowers bisexual, forming a narrow spike. Perianth 5-lobed. Stamens 5. Stigmas 2-3. Ovary semi-inferior, fused to the perianth in fruit.

Seed. Uses?The genus includes a wide range of garden vegetables including spinach, beet, chard and beetroot.

Rootstock or leaf stalks often fleshy and swollen; flowers bisexual; ovary semi-inferior.

11-13 species from the Mediterranean, W and C Asia, often coastal.

Ford-Lloyd & Williams (1975).

Source: Spencer, R. (1997). Chenopodiaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.