Morphology, Physiology, and Ecology

The traits of Beta maritima have been reviewed and summarized from a number of recent and classical publications dealing with the ecology, morphology, and whole-plant physiology of the species. Because few papers have been written only on sea beet, B. maritima, most information comes from cultivated forms of Beta vulgaris. A striking feature of B. maritima gleaned from this review is how variable and adaptive it is. The species is fairly plastic allowing it to live in many different environments. This capacity for adaptation has been correlated with its breeding system, which allows sea beet to rapidly change reproduction systems, flowering time, life span, etc. according to the local environmental conditions. This is most evident to the observer in the differences between the Mediterranean populations with easy bolting, short life cycles, and those from the sea coasts of northwest Europe. This chapter provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the plant and populations to answer the question: “What is B. maritima?”