Sea Beet (Beta vulgaris)

Edibility:Edible Good

Eating notes: The smaller young leaves can be added to salads. The larger leaves can be cooked as spinach, but the central ribs should be stripped, as these can be tough and stingy.

This plant is the wild progenitor of beetroot, chard, and sugar beet. It grows in poor soils near the shore of the sea or estuaries.

Height: 50 - 100cm

Leaves: Spear-shaped and glossy with a clear central rib. Variable in size. Basal leaves can be vary large (30cm). Smaller leaves are produced on the flower spikes during the summer.

Flowers: Flower spikes tightly clustered with small greenish flowers.

Stems: Thick and fleshy. Often pink tinged.

Other: On older plants, basal leaves and flower stems can often be seen growing from a large tuber.

Look-a-likes: Similar to some Oraches and Goosefoots which grow in the same environment. Sea Beet is a more substantial plant than these with larger and glossy leaves. Oraches and Goosefoots tend to have powdery leaves.