Wild turnip

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Wild turnip
Wild turnip (Beta vulgaris subsp. Maritima) on the rocky coast of Heligoland

Wild turnip ( Beta vulgaris subsp. Maritima ) on the rocky coast of Heligoland

Systematics
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Foxtail family (Amaranthaceae)
Subfamily : Betoideae
Genre : Beet ( beta )
Type : Turnip ( Beta vulgaris )
Subspecies : Wild turnip
Scientific name
Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima
( L. ) Arcang.

The wild turnip ( Beta vulgaris subsp. Maritima ) is a subspecies of the plant species turnip ( Beta vulgaris ) in the foxtail family (Amaranthaceae). It is also called sea ​​beet , wild beet , sea ​​chard , sea ​​chard or wild chard . It is considered to be the original form of the cultivated beet varieties such as sugar beet , fodder beet , beetroot or Swiss chard .

description

Edged, grooved stem, upper leaves and budded inflorescence.

Vegetative characteristics

The wild turnip grows as an annual, biennial or perennial herbaceous plant with heights of 20 to 100 centimeters. In contrast to cultivated beets, their roots are not or hardly thickened. The stem , richly branched from the base, has prostrate or upright branches that are angular, grooved and striped with green or red.

The leaves are basal and arranged alternately on the stem. The simple leaf blade is somewhat fleshy, shiny, glabrous or sparsely hairy. The leaf blade of the basal leaves is oval-heart-shaped or rhombic shaped with a length of 10 cm and a width of 5 cm and towards the stem it is wedge-shaped narrowed to a long, stalk-shaped base. In the middle and upper stem leaves, the leaf blade is wedge-shaped, triangular to lanceolate and becomes smaller towards the top. The leaf margin is flat or slightly wavy. The tip of the leaf can be pointed or blunt.

Detail of an inflorescence with wild beet blossoms

Inflorescence and flower

The wild turnip blooms from July to September. The annual inflorescence consists of upright or protruding, elongated twigs that are clearly separated from the leafy part. The flowers sit individually or in clusters of two to three in the axils of short bracts . The bracts are linear-lanceolate-triangular or oblong-egg-shaped and have skin margins on the edge. Bracteoles are missing. The hermaphrodite flowers are fivefold. The urn-shaped flower envelope consists of three to five tepals connected at the bottom . The free tips of the perianth are ovate-triangular or oblong with a length of about 2 mm, green with a membranous edge and rounded or somewhat keeled on the back. There are five stamens . The semi-subordinate ovary bears two to three basally connected scars.

The pollination is carried by the wind ( anemophily ).

Fruit and seeds

The capsule fruit is a "lid capsule". It is enclosed by the flower cover, the tips of which are bent inward, swollen and somewhat keeled. The seed lies horizontally embedded in the base of the flower envelope. Its surface is red-brown and smooth, its diameter reaches about 2 mm. The ring-shaped embryo surrounds the abundant nutrient tissue.

Wild turnip ( Beta vulgaris subsp. Maritima ), cultivated in the botanical garden

Chromosome number

The chromosome number of the wild beet is 2n = 18.

ecology

lifespan

In contrast to the two-year-old cultivated beets, the wild beet often grows as a perennial plant. Under the same conditions in the greenhouse, the mean lifespan of wild beets depends on the latitude of their origin. While plants from southwest France are biennial, plants from the UK can live to be at least 11 years old. Further north, the lifespan decreases again to around five years. There is also a connection with the stability of the habitats: populations with short-lived plants occur in disturbed places, the longest-lived specimens are found in particularly stable surroundings.

Salt tolerance

The wild beet can grow as a halophyte on moderately salty soils. It compensates for the salt stress by accumulating sodium and chlorine ions in the leaves and thereby maintaining its turgor . On the other hand, it accumulates sucrose and proline in the roots , so that water can still be absorbed even on salty soils with a high water potential . However, this dilutes the content of the minerals potassium , magnesium and calcium in the tissue, so that a nutrient deficiency occurs on very salty soils.

Occurrence

The wild beet is widespread in southern Europe and North Africa on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and in the oceanic climates of western Europe : in the west its natural area extends to the Atlantic islands ( Azores , Madeira , Canary Islands ), in the north to the southern coast of Norway and Sweden . It was only in the last few decades that this frost-sensitive species penetrated the Baltic coast to Poland and Finland . Since 2004 she can also be found on a Russian island south of Finland. In the southeast, its distribution area extends over the Near and Middle East to India , where it also grows inland, for example at the edges of fields and in wastelands up to an altitude of around 1200 meters.

As an introduced species, the wild beet is also found in Australia , North America ( New Jersey , California ) and South America ( Argentina , Chile ).

The wild turnip is extremely rare in Germany and is therefore considered to be potentially endangered ( Red List of Endangered Species : R). A few decades ago it was only found on the island of Helgoland . In the meantime, several sites on the German Baltic coast have become known, for example on Fehmarn . According to studies by Drießen (2003), these occurrences are actually wild beets and not feral cultivated beets. On the German Baltic coast, the wild beet has been able to spread further in recent years: In 1997, 62 specimens grew at five locations, in 2001 560 plant specimens were found at 16 locations. The increasingly milder winters are assumed to be the cause of the spread, which is supported by the evaluation of weather data.

In Germany, the wild turnip populates the full sun, nutrient-rich salt plant corridors of the coasts, such as rivers, rocky coasts, dykes and pebble beaches. Occasionally it occurs inland in nitrogen-rich ruderal societies , for example at train stations.

Systematics

The first publication of Beta vulgaris L. was in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum , p. 222. At the same time Linnaeus established the genus Beta with it. He saw wild and cultivated forms as different varieties and named the wild form Beta vulgaris var. Perennis L. In the second edition of 1762, p. 322, Linné separated the wild form as a separate species, Beta maritima L. , from the cultivated forms, which he also classified as species. It soon became clear that the wild turnip does not deserve the rank of a species, as it can be easily crossed with the cultivated forms and there are transitions between the clans. Alfred Moquin-Tandon presented it in 1849 in Prodromus , 13 (2) again in the rank of a variety Beta vulgaris var. Maritima (L.) Moq. to Beta vulgaris . Giovanni Arcangeli took it in 1882 in Compendio della Flora Italiana , p. 593, as a subspecies, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima (L.) Arcang.

Synonyms for Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima are: Beta atriplicifolia Rouy , Beta bengalensis Roxb. , Beta maritima L. , Beta maritima var. Atriplicifolia (Rouy) Krassochkin , Beta maritima subsp. danica Krassochkin , Beta maritima var. erecta Krassochkin , Beta maritima var. prostrata Krassochkin , Beta orientalis Roth , Beta palonga R.K. Basu & KKMukh. , Beta perennis (L.) Freyn , Beta trojana Pamukç. ex Aellen , Beta vulgaris var. atriplicifolia (Rouy) Krassochkin , Beta vulgaris var. erecta (Krassochkin) Krassochkin , Beta vulgaris var. foliosa Aellen , Beta vulgaris var. glabra (Delile) Aellen , Beta vulgaris var. grisea Aellen , Beta vulgaris subsp . lomatogonoides Aellen , Beta vulgaris var. maritima (L.) Moq. , Beta vulgaris subsp. orientalis (Roth) Aellen , Beta vulgaris var. orientalis (Roth) Moq. , Beta vulgaris var. Perennis L. , Beta vulgaris var. Pilosa (Delile) Aellen , Beta vulgaris var. Prostrata (Krassochkin) Krassochkin , Beta vulgaris subsp. provulgaris Ford-Lloyd & JTWilliams and Beta vulgaris var. trojana (Pamukç.) Ford-Lloyd & JTWilliams .

use

Young wild beet leaves can be eaten raw as a salad. The older leaves are more bitter and should be steamed or boiled like spinach. The somewhat unpleasant taste of the wild form is due to its high tannin and iron content . This was later bred out of the cultivated Swiss chard .

The leaves of the wild beet have been eaten as a vegetable since prehistoric times, as evidenced by Neolithic finds. Cultivation probably began as early as the second millennium BC. Written sources from Assyria show that the turnip ("Silga") was planted in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon as early as 800 BC .

Importance as a plant genetic resource

As the starting form of all cultivated beets, the wild beet plays an important role in the preservation of plant genetic diversity, as required by the Biodiversity Convention (Rio de Janeiro 1992). A large genetic variability, even within species, is of economic interest, since more resistant crops can be bred with the help of wild forms . It is of scientific interest that the wild beet has spread along the Baltic coast over the past 150 years. This makes this clan suitable for studying the consequences of migration on intra-species diversity.

In the meantime, genetic modifications, for example the introduction of resistance genes , have also become established in plant breeding worldwide , even if only rarely accepted in Europe. Since wild beets cross with all cultivated forms and produce fertile offspring, and wild populations and beet fields are often found nearby, there is a risk that transgenes will escape into the environment in an uncontrolled manner . This can take place in the form of seeds of transgenic plants, which grow wild and form new populations. In addition, wild forms can be pollinated with the pollen of the transgenic cultivated forms. Although cultivated beets are harvested in the first year and usually do not bloom until the second year, there are occasional blooming individuals as early as the first year. Since beet pollen is widespread over 1000 meters, wild beets can also be reached far away. It is likely that this will alter the genetic diversity of wild populations.

In the case of nematode-resistant, so against Rübenälchen sensitive cultivated beets seems to be no particular risk to the current state of knowledge, because the Rübenzysten- nematode comes at the sites of the savages not before turnips. However, gene flow cannot be avoided in principle.

literature

  • Henning Haeupler , Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany (= the fern and flowering plants of Germany. Volume 2). Published by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 , p. 87 (section description).
  • IC Hedge: Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima . In: Karl Heinz Rechinger et al. (Ed.): Flora Iranica. Volume 172: Chenopodiaceae . Akad. Druck, Graz 1997, DNB 952269201 , pp. 21-22. (Sections Description, Occurrence)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Entry by Günther Blaich .
  2. ↑ Entry at Hortipedia .
  3. ↑ Werner Rothmaler (greeting), Rudolf Schubert, Walter Vent (ed.): Excursion flora for the areas of the GDR and the FRG. Volume 4: Critical Volume. 5th edition. People and Knowledge, Berlin 1982, p. 166.
  4. ↑ a b c d Stephen Nottingham: Beetroot. 2004. online at http://sfnottingham.blogspot.com .
  5. ↑ a b Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  6. ↑ Nina-Coralie Hautekèete, Yves Piquot & Henk van Dijk: Life Span in Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima: The Effects of Age at First Reproduction and Disturbance. In: Journal of Ecology , Volume 90, No. 3, 2002, pp. 508-516 (abstract)
  7. ↑ Hans-Werner Koyro, Salma Daoud, Cherif Harrouni & B. Huchzermeyer: Strategies of a potential cash crop halophyte (Beta vulgaris ssp. Maritima) to avoid salt injury . In: Tropical Ecology , Volume 47 (2), 2006, ISSN  0564-3295 , pp. 191-200 PDF file
  8. ↑ a b c Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
  9. ↑ a b M. Enders, L. Frese, M. Nachtigall: Development and application of molecular and informational tools for genetic monitoring in wild beet (Beta sp., Patellifolia sp.). In: Reports from the Julius Kühn Institute. Volume 157, 2010, p. 36 (summary).
  10. ↑ a b Wild turnip. In: FloraWeb.de.
  11. ↑ a b c d Sarah Drießen: Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima on Germany's Baltic coast. Mapping, genetic and physiological characterization and their role as crossing partners for transgenic sugar beets . Dissertation at the Technical University of Aachen, 2003: (PDF file; 3.4 MB).
  12. ↑ Christian Dolnik et al.: Finds of rare, endangered and little noticed vascular plants in Schleswig-Holstein . In: Kiel notes on botany in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. Volume 32, Kiel 2004, 103-123. PDF file . see pp. 107–108.
  13. ↑ First publication of Beta vulgaris scanned at biodiversitylibrary.org
  14. ↑ First publication of Beta maritima scanned at biodiversitylibrary.org .
  15. ↑ Ute Wehres: Investigations into the potential ecological effects of genetically mediated nematode resistance on plant genetic resources using the example of the wild sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. Maritima) . RWTH Aachen University, 2007. PDF file.

Web links

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