Scientific Name: Beta Vulgaris
Chioggia beets have beautiful white and red rings through the root with large tender tops which are great for cooking. They are an hierloom variety and are very sweet and bleed less than red beets.
The beet is a plant in the Chenopodiaceae family. It is best known in its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is the purple root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet.
Beta vulgaris is a herbaceous biennial or, rarely, perennial plant with leafy stems growing to 1–2 m tall. The leaves are heart-shaped, 5–20 cm long on wild plants (often much larger in cultivated plants). The flowers are produced in dense spikes; each flower is very small, 3–5 mm diameter, green or tinged reddish, with five petals; they are wind pollinated. The fruit is a cluster of hard nutlets.
Beet greens are a tasty green which can be cooked and used as you would chard or spinach. They are rich in vitamins and minerals with a rich taste.