Size of a Sugar Beet Plant Flower

Flower Size

• Like other beets, the flower of the sugar beet grows as a tall spike with several smaller branches. This spike of flowers grows to about 5 feet tall. However, the individual flowers are quite small and measure only 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch in diameter. Two to five individual flowers appear in clusters on the branches along the length of the flower spike.

Flower Appearance

• Despite appearing the impressively tall spike, the flowers of the sugar beet aren't very attractive. They have a pale green color, and older flowers may have a hint of red. The flowers bear five tiny petals. Underneath the petals are three green bracts, which encase and protect the flower before it blooms. In the evenings, the flower closes; it opens again in the morning.

Botanical Structures

• The sugar beet flower is known as a "perfect" flower, which means it has both male and female reproductive structures (the stamens and the pistil, respectively). However, the flower is rarely able to fertilize itself, because the five stamens release pollen earlier than the pistil on the same flower is ready to receive pollen. By the time the pistil can receive pollen, the stamens of that flower have died back. However, one flower can fertilize another flower on the same plant.

Flowering Time

• Sugar beets and other beets are biennials. This means it takes them two years to complete their life cycle from seed, to plant, to a flowering plant that produces seed. Beets are typically harvested for their roots after their first year of growth and so don't complete their life cycle. If left in the ground, the beet will produce its flower spike the next spring. Beets suddenly flower, or bolt, in their first year if the weather drastically changes in a short period of time.