Thank you Gurcharanji but do you mean all the spinach I have been eating for the last few decades in various continents is a variety of Beet greens?
they (spinach I eat) look and feel and taste different from beet greens I dont have pictures of beet greens nor of their flowers so cant argue this point I 'll have to keep an open mind but in our junior botany id classes way back when this was indeed Palang shaak... the leaf shape as seen in fig 1 (4159) seems to be of palang shaak... well ... learning all the time... usha di On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 2:44 PM, Gurcharan Singh <[email protected]> wrote: > Ushadi > I fear this may not be Spinacia oleracea. The spinach sold in warmer parts > of India is actually bet leaf Beta vulgaris var. bengalensis Roxb. now > correctly known as *B. vulgaris* subsp. *maritima* (L.) Arch. > > Being very familiar with spinach in Kashmir (Palak), we used to call leafy > Beta vulgaris var. maritima as Punjabi Palak in Kashmir. I was surprised, > therefore, when this Punjabi Palak (word Hindustani or Punjabi is commonly > used in Kashmir for any thing belonging to outside Kashmir) was called here > in Delhi as Spinach and taught in practical classes (both Physiology and > Taxonomy practical) as Spinacia oleracea. It took me some time to convince > the teachers here. In fact in one College I went as external examiner, this > plant was given to students. I tried to convince teachers, and finding that > some senior teachers won't agree, I finally told them: Ok if you think this > is Spinacia oleracea, students should show me the characters of this. > Luckily no one disagreed with me there after. > By the way two are very different: leaves are hastate, flowers > unisexual, fruiting perianth enlarging, becoming hardened and often spiny > in Spinacia oleracea. > In Beta vulgraris, leaves are narrowed at base, flowers bisexual, > perianth not hardened in fruit. > > > -- > Dr. Gurcharan Singh > Retired Associate Professor > SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 > Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. > Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 > http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ > http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ > > On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 12:48 PM, Ushadi Micromini < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> *Chenopodiaceae and Amaranthaceae Week: UD 002 : Spinacia oleracea, >> bolting from a local grower* >> >> >> This is Spinach *Spinacia oleracea, * we all eat* it >> * >> >> * >> * >> >> And love and hate to some extent >> >> >> Astringent taste leaves moth dry >> >> >> Hence the Italian took to adding creamy sauces to spinach I think… >> >> there is no hard evidence for and against it… its just my fancy… >> >> I love to think that that’s why most spinach I ate in Italy or Greece >> >> was almost 70percent of the time smothered in creamy white sauces… >> >> and if not in sauces , in garlic… >> >> >> Its leaves are rich in micro-nutrients such as those that are >> synthesized by the leaves… >> >> Vit K, B6, B2, Vit A and to some extent C… and can be a rich source of >> Magnesium, >> >> Selenium, manganese if the soil its being grown in is not overused and >> undernourished ; >> >> and Iron, since most soil is usually not too deficient in Iron in the >> gangetic plains I am told… >> >> >> >> *This example I am showing is Bolting, ie flowering, not considered >> edible* >> >> * by this time, ie past its most desirable stage. It tastes bitter, I >> can vouch >> * >> >> *for it and quite fibrous. I like the small greenish white flowers >> though . * >> >> >> >> -- >> Usha di >> =========== >> >> -- >> >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "efloraofindia" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> > > > > -- Usha di =========== -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
