Betoideae
| Betoideae | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Subfamily: |
Betoideae Ulbr. |
| Genera | |
|
about 6 genera, see text |
|
about 6 genera, see text
The Betoideae are a small subfamily of the flowering plant amaranth family, Amaranthaceae sensu lato (or in Chenopodiaceae sensu stricto). Commonly known members include beet, sugar beet, chard, and mangelwurzel, which all are cultivars of Beta vulgaris.
The species of Betoideae are annuals, biennial or perennial herbs, vines (Hablitzia) or subshrubs. The flowers have 5 tepals (Aphanisma only 3) and 5 stamens (Aphanisma only one). The fruits of Betoideae are capsules that open with a circumscissile lid.
In tribe Beteae, the perianth is basally indurated in fruit, and the stamens a basally inserted to a thickened bulge surrounding the visible part of the ovary. In tribe Hablitzieae, the tepals are not modified in fruit and membranous, and the stamens are basally united in a membranous ring.
Most genera are distributed in Western and Southern Europe, in the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia, but one disjunct genus, Aphanisma, lives at the coasts of California.
The species of Betoideae are adapted to different ecological habitats, several growing in coastal habitats, some on rocks and in mountains, one in deciduous forests (Hablitzia).
Oskar Eberhard Ulbrich described the subfamily Betoideae in 1934 within the plant family Chenopodiaceae. He subdivided the taxon into two tribes, Hablitzieae and Beteae, the latter with only one genus, Beta. Phylogenetic research by Kadereit et al. (2006) confirmed this classification, whereas Romeira et al (2016) suggest only one tribe.
The subfamily is now classified either in family Amaranthaceae sensu lato, or in Chenopodiaceae sensu stricto, (excluding the subfamily Polycnemoideae, as the other subfamilies of Chenopodiaceae, Betoideae, Camphorosmoideae, Chenopodioideae, Corispermoideae, Salicornioideae, Salsoloideae, and Suaedoideae, form a monophyletic group which is distinct from the Amaranthaceae s. str.). Current taxonomic treatments and morphological, physiological and phylogenetic studies seem to prefer Chenopodiaceae s. str. for reasons of taxonomic stability.
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