''Beta patula'' is a species of wild beet in the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

, native to

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. It is a close relative of ''

Beta vulgaris ''Beta vulgaris'' (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of gre ...

''. There are about 3000 individuals alive in the wild, distributed on two uninhabited islets;

Ilhéu Chão The Ilhéu Chão is a small islet within the Desertas Islands, a small chain of islands which are in turn within the Madeira archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collect ...

, and Ilhéu da Cevada—also called dos Desembarcadouros—which is an extension of

Ponta de São Lourenço Ponta de São Lourenço (Portuguese for the "Point of Saint Lawrence") is the easternmost point of the island of Madeira. It is inside the town of Caniçal and forms a part of the municipality of Machico. Its terrain are made up of rocks and he ...

and separated from it by only a few meters during high tide.

References

patula Endemic flora of Madeira Plants described in 1789 {{Amaranthaceae-stub