This I suppose is our so called spinach of warm climates, actually beet leaf, Beta vulgaris var. bengalensis, now correctly known as Beta vulagaris var. maritima. This is the Palak grown and sold in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana etc. Spinacea oleracea, the real spinach (palak) of colder climates is a much different plant, much shorter, with hastate leaves and unisexual flowers.
http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Spinacia+oleracea http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spinacia_oleracea_(Breedblad_scherpzaad)_in_Italy.jpg http://www.lookfordiagnosis.com/images.php?term=Spinacia%20Oleracea&photo_id=3770019370&lang=1 http://www.lookfordiagnosis.com/images.php?term=Spinacia%20Oleracea&photo_id=3770020178&lang=1 http://www.lookfordiagnosis.com/images.php?term=Spinacia%20Oleracea&photo_id=3770019788&lang=1 No wonder you will find numerous photographs of Beta vulgaris var. maritima labelled as Spinacea oleracea. Before I came to Delhi, many students were being given specimens of Beta vulgaris as Spinacea oleracea for taxonomy and physiology experiments. -- 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://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ On Sat, Apr 23, 2011 at 5:55 AM, Balkar Arya <balkara...@gmail.com> wrote: > Spinacea oleracea I THINK > > > > -- > Regards > > Dr Balkar Singh > Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology > Arya P G College, Panipat > Haryana-132103 > 09416262964 >