TaprootThe swollen main root. The plant stores its sugar here.
CrownA very short stem. The leaves grow from it in a tuft.
Leaf bladeThe broad part of a leaf. It makes sugar from sunlight.
Leaf stalk (petiole)The stalk of a leaf. It joins the blade to the crown.
NeckThe smooth band under the crown. It grows from the seedling's first stem.
Side rootsThin roots that grow from the taproot in two rows.
Root cut across 3
SkinThe thin outer layer of the root.
Vascular ringsRings of firm strands, one inside another.
Storage tissueSoft tissue between the rings. Its cells hold sugar and water.
How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-03 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) F. S. Harris, The Sugar-Beet in America, 1919, chapter on the sugar-beet plant (public domain), https://archive.org/details/sugarbeetinamer00harr : the first year the stem consists of the crown on top of the root, from which the leaves spring; the fleshy root is an enlarged taproot, thickest just below the crown and tapering into a slender root; secondary roots clustered in two rows down the beet; the beet is made up of a series of concentric rings, of two kinds of parenchyma cells; a smooth skin; seed stalks in the second year. (2) John Percival, Agricultural Botany, Theoretical and Practical, 1910, the mangel and the sugar-beet (public domain), https://archive.org/details/cu31924000603971 : the 'root' consists of thickened hypocotyl and true root; secondary roots arise in two longitudinal rows; leaves at the apex above the old leaf-bases; a transverse section shows concentric rings of firm vascular tissue alternating with rings of soft thin-walled parenchyma; sugar-beets of conical shape, white skin, petioles (his 'neck' is the rough upper part, this page's crown, so he is not counted for the name Neck). (3) H. E. Hayward, The Structure of Economic Plants, 1938, the chapter on the beet, passage read through archive.org full-text search, https://archive.org/details/structureofecono0000herm : the mature beet is a fleshy axis made up of a crown, neck and a more or less elongated tap root; the crown is an unelongated stem; lateral roots; a biennial. (4) H. A. Jones and J. T. Rosa, Truck Crop Plants, 1928, passage read through archive.org full-text search, https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-BDG-716 : three regions, the crown, the neck and the root; the crown bears a tuft of large leaves; the portion developed from the hypocotyl is known as the neck. (5) Wikipedia, text only, Sugar beet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet : a white, fleshy, cone-shaped taproot with a flat crown; the plant is the root plus a rosette of leaves; sugar is made in the leaves and stored in the root; the leaves grow in a tuft from the crown. (6) E. Artschwager, Anatomy of the Vegetative Organs of the Sugar Beet, Journal of Agricultural Research 33(2), 1926 (United States Department of Agriculture, public domain), read in full, https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-agricultural-research_1926-07-15_33_2 : the mature beet is composed of three regions, the crown, the neck and the root; the crown is the broadened, somewhat cone-shaped apex and bears a tuft of large leaves and leaf bases; the neck is a smooth narrow zone, the broadest part of the beet, and is the thickened hypocotyl; the root region is cone-shaped and ends in a slender taproot; lateral rootlets in two double rows; a thin cork layer covers the beet; lamina and petiole; each ring of growth is a narrow ring of vascular tissue and a broad band of storage parenchyma. The name Neck stands on (6) and (3); (4) repeats the wording of (6) and is not counted apart from it. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry; own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
A sugar beet is a white, cone-shaped taproot under a tuft of leaves. The leaves make sugar and the root stores it. The second drawing cuts the root across.
Read the full guide
Crown, neck and root
The beet has three regions. The crown at the top is a very short stem, and the leaves grow from it. The neck is the smooth band under the crown. Below it the taproot tapers to a thin end, with side roots in two rows down its sides.
Rings in the root
Cut across, the root shows rings one inside another: narrow rings of firm vascular tissue with wide bands of soft storage tissue between them.
The drawing shows a first-year plant. In its second year a beet sends up tall seed stalks.
The quiz takes hypocotyl for neck, and parenchyma for storage tissue.
Questions and answers
What are the parts of a sugar beet?
Leaves, each with a blade and a leaf stalk, then the beet itself in three regions: the crown, the neck and the taproot with its side roots. Inside the root are a thin skin, rings of vascular tissue and storage tissue.
What is the crown of a sugar beet?
The top of the beet, where the leaves join. It is a very short stem, rough with the bases of old leaves, and it sits at about the level of the soil.
Where is the sugar in a sugar beet?
In the root. The leaves make sugar from sunlight, and the plant stores it in the swollen taproot.
Why does a sugar beet have rings inside?
The root is built in layers. Rings of firm vascular tissue alternate with rings of soft storage tissue, so a slice across the root looks like a target.