Beta trigyna
Origin: Central Eurasia
Improvement status: Wild
Seeds per packet: ~12
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
Also called Turkish Wild Beet, this perennial beet wild relative is a tasty spring green commonly foraged in many of the places where it grows in the wild. Native to Iran, Romania, the Transcaucasus, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine (including Crimea), and the Balkans, though commonly found growing in waste places in other parts of Europe. It's not just food for people, but good for pasture animals too. Apparently this species is hexaploid and most often reproduces by apomixis, meaning asexually — that is, it's capable of cloning itself via seed!
GROWING TIPS: Can grow in most soils but prefers a light neutral to alkaline soil. Like other beets, some seeds contain multiple embryos, so may be divided once a few weeks old. Will do best in USDA Zones 4-8.
