| Beta nana | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus: | Beta |
| Species: | B. nana |
| Binomial name | |
| Beta nana | |
Beta nana, the dwarf beet, is a species of flowering perennial plant in the family Amaranthaceae endemic to the mountains of central and southern Greece.
B. nana is a small, diploid perennial plant with a prostrate growth habit and a rosette of leaves 10–20 cm in diameter, depending on the fertility of the soil. [1] The inflorescences are procumbent, meaning they lie flat on the ground, and they hold 10-25 flowers each. The inflorescence is covered in small orbicular bracts, and flowers arise from the axils of these bracts. [1] [2] [3] The flowers are hermaphrodite and able to self-pollinate. [1] The fruit is a hard, monogerm seedball that dehisces while still green. [1] [2]
The species Beta nana was first published in 1846 by Boiss. & Heldr.. [4]
B. nana is often treated as the sole species of the Nanae section of the Beta genus. However, it is closely related to the Corollinae section, [5] and some authors treat it as part of the Corollinae section. [3]
B. nana is endemic to the mountains of central and southern Greece. [4] It mostly grows on the east and northeast slopes of mountains at elevations of 1700-2800 meters, where the climate is cool and moist. It grows on limestone soils in open areas dominated by short plants, in disturbed areas, and in rocky crevices. [1] [5]
In 2009, it was estimated that the population was stable with a total of 5,000 plants, but its habitat is potentially vulnerable to climate change. [1]
Most sites inhabited by B. nana are grazed by goats and sheep. A small degree of grazing keeps nearby plants short, which may help the smaller B. nana to survive. The plant flowers from June to August. Its seeds are dispersed by meltwater flows, grazing animals, and birds. [5]
B. nana is edible. [6] Its resistance to cold has potential in efforts to improve the sugar beet. [7]
Clover, also called trefoil, are plants of the genus Trifolium, consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with highest diversity in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics. They are small annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants, typically growing up to 30 centimetres (12 in) tall. The leaves are trifoliate, with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small red, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the calyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include Melilotus and Medicago.
Beta vulgaris (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of greatest importance to produce table sugar; the root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet; the leaf vegetable known as chard or spinach beet or silverbeet; and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognised. All cultivars, despite their quite different morphologies, fall into the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris. The wild ancestor of the cultivated beets is the sea beet.
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus Amaranthus. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it the most species-rich lineage within its parent order, Caryophyllales.
Scabiosa is a genus in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae) of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious, but some plants commonly known as scabious are currently classified in related genera such as Knautia and Succisa; at least some of these were formerly placed in Scabiosa. Another common name for members of this genus is pincushion flowers.
Origanum is a genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae. They are native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in scattered locations in North America and other regions.
Beta is a genus in the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae. The best known member is the common beet, Beta vulgaris, but several other species are recognised. Almost all have common names containing the word "beet". Wild Beta species can be found throughout the Atlantic coast of Europe, the Mediterranean coastline, the Near East, and parts of Asia including India.
Minuartia is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as sandworts in the family Caryophyllaceae.
Sideritis, also known as ironwort, mountain tea, and shepherd's tea, is a genus of flowering plants known for their use as herbal medicine, commonly as a herbal tea. They are abundant in Mediterranean regions, the Balkans, the Iberian Peninsula and Macaronesia, but can also be found in Central Europe and temperate Asia.
Moenchia is a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae with three species native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and naturalised in southern Africa and parts of North America and Australia. They are herbs, with an annual life span. They have slender roots and thin stems that are upright or ascending. Inflorescences are one- to three-flowered and terminally end the stems. The flowers are in spreading cymes or solitary, with bracts paired that are leaf like. Named after the 18th century German botanist Conrad Moench. A common name for the plants in this genus is upright chickweeds.
Bassia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.
Scilla nana, known as dwarf glory-of-the-snow, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant endemic to Crete. It flowers in early spring with flowers in shades of lilac blue. After flowering, it goes into dormancy until the next spring. It belongs to a group of Scilla species that were formerly put in a separate genus, Chionodoxa, and may now be treated as Scilla sect. Chionodoxa. It has not always been recognized as distinct from Scilla cretica.
Adonis cyllenea is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is endemic to Greece.
The Betoideae are a small subfamily of the flowering plant amaranth family, Amaranthaceae sensu lato. Commonly known members include beet, sugar beet, chard, and mangelwurzel, which all are cultivars of Beta vulgaris.
Gagea amblyopetala is a Eurasian species of plants in the lily family, Liliaceae. It is native to the Aegean Islands, Albania, Crete, Crimea, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Turkey, Yugoslavia. It is a bulb-forming perennial with yellow flowers.
Scilla cretica is a species of flowering plant in the Asparagaceae family. It is referred to by the common name Cretan glory-of-the-snow, and is a bulbous perennial native to Crete, flowering in early spring. It belongs to a group of Scilla species that were formerly put in a separate genus, Chionodoxa, and may now be treated as Scilla sect. Chionodoxa. It has not always been recognized as distinct from Scilla nana.
Iris attica, the Greek iris, is a plant species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Iris. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the mountains of the Balkans in Europe, within the countries of Greece, former Yugoslavia, Turkey and North Macedonia. It has sage green or grey-green leaves, that are sickle-shaped, a stout short stem and 2 variable flowers, in shades from yellow to purple. They have a white or blue beard. It is often called Iris pumila subsp attica, but is classified in most sources, as a separate species, although it is closely related to Iris pumila, as a possible parent plant. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.
Patellifolia is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. These are mostly procumbent herbs occurring in the Western Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, with some isolated occurrences in North Africa and at the Horn of Africa. They are interesting as crop wild relatives of sugar beet.
Ramonda heldreichii is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It was formerly treated as Jankaea heldreichii, the only member of the monotypic genus Jankaea. It is endemic to Mount Olympus in Greece where it is a relict species from the Tertiary period.
Asperula aristata is a deciduous species of perennial groundcover, and a flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae, known as woodruff. It is native to Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, and Portugal.
Protea nana, also known as the mountain rose or mountain-rose sugarbush, is a flowering shrub which belongs within the genus Protea.
