Beta vulgaris

Beta vulgaris is a flowering plant species native to coastal regions of Europe, the Mediterranean, and western Asia. Its cultivated forms include beetroot, sugar beet, Swiss chard, and mangelwurzel.

Sugar beet: A cultivated form of Beta vulgaris bred for its sucrose-rich root. Its roots are processed to produce a substantial share of the world's table sugar.
Domestication of plants: The process by which human selection changes wild species into crops and other domesticated plants. Beta vulgaris cultivars arose through prolonged selection for useful roots and leaves.
Beet sugar: Sucrose produced commercially from the roots of sugar beet. It is the main processed product of one of the species' major cultivars.
Amaranthaceae: A diverse family of flowering plants that includes beets, amaranths, and many salt-tolerant species. Modern classifications place Beta vulgaris within this family.
Beetroot: A cultivated form of Beta vulgaris grown chiefly for its swollen, edible root. It is the familiar root vegetable within the species.
Sea beet: A wild coastal plant and the principal wild ancestor of cultivated Beta vulgaris. Its populations are the source from which cultivated forms were domesticated.
Sugar beet processing: The industrial extraction and purification of sucrose from sugar-beet roots. It converts the root's stored sugar into a refined food ingredient.
Spinach: A leafy vegetable species in the family Amaranthaceae. It is a familiar relative with a different domesticated crop form.
Swiss chard: A leafy vegetable cultivar of Beta vulgaris grown for its broad, edible leaf stalks and blades. It shows how the species can be cultivated primarily for its leaves.
Plant breeding: The deliberate selection and crossing of plants to produce desired inherited traits. Breeding transformed the species into specialized root, leaf, and sugar crops.

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