A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Beta vulgaris
This swiss chard is a couple of years old. The leaves are really big and the veins are red (which looks really cool).
THe swiss chard plant is in our school garden and is in full sun.
This plant was chosen by a 3rd-grade group at John G (the Yellow Bees). These are the questions they chose about their observations: 1. Why are the veins red? 2. What insects eat the leaves? 3. Are there insects that eat insects that eat the leaves?
Spotted on Jul 8, 2021
Submitted on Jul 9, 2021
2 Comments
About that red color...what other vegetable do you think gets red like that? The chemical is called betalain pigments, and it's good for our health. Other vegetables have this vein, too. Swiss Chard and kale pull minerals from the soil and hold them on their leaves.
Hey there, great questions, but I bet you know the answers already! Can you think of something with 8 legs that eats insects? Did you know that lots of insects eat the leaves, and not just insects! Rabbits, leaf cutter bees, caterpillars, ground hogs all eat Swiss chard! How about birds, do they eat insects?