Chard

Chard
Red-stemmed chard
SpeciesBeta vulgaris
SubspeciesBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
Cultivar groupCicla Group, Flavescens Group
OriginSea beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima)
Cultivar group membersMany; see text.

Chard (/ɑːrd/ ; Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris, Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, or Swiss chard, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf blade; the Cicla Group is the leafier spinach beet. The leaf blade can be green or reddish; the leaf stalks are usually white, yellow or red.

Chard, like other green leafy vegetables, has highly nutritious leaves. Chard has been used in cooking for centuries, but because it is the same species as beetroot, the common names that cooks and cultures have used for chard may be confusing; it has many other common names such as silver beet, perpetual spinach, beet spinach, seakale beet, or leaf beet.