Historical demographic processes and mating systems are believed to be major factors in the shaping of the intraspecies genetic diversity of plants. Among Caryophyllales, the Beta section of the genus Beta, within the Amaranthaceae/Chenopodiaceae alliance, is an interesting study model with species and subspecies (Beta macrocarpa, Beta patula, Beta vulgaris maritima and B.v. adanensis) differin...

Using data sourced from the SANBI MedList database, the most comprehensive inventory of ethnomedicinal plants for the Flora of southern Africa region, taxa were grouped by order. A least squares regression analysis was used to test the null hypothesis that the use of these plants by traditional healers is strictly random. The above approach, following a North American study by Moerman (1979), s...

Betalains are a family of natural pigments found exclusively in the plant order Caryophyllales. All members of this chemical family are biosynthesized through the common intermediate betalamic acid, which is capable of spontaneously condensing with various primary and secondary amines to produce betalains. Of particular interest is the red-violet betanin, most commonly obtained from Beta vulgar...