CHARD or SWISS CHARD, a name given to the edible leaf-beet (Beta vulgaris var. Cichla), a variety of the beet (q.v.) in which by long cultivation the leaves and leaf-stalks, instead of the roots, have become greatly developed. The plant is a biennial with somewhat branched and thickened but not fleshy roots, and large leaves borne on stalks sometimes 2 ft. long and I in. to 3 in. thick. It is grown for the tender leaves and leaf-stalks; the former are boiled and served like spinach, the latter, like asparagus. The leaves and leaf-stalks of the artichoke (q.v..), when made tender by blanching, are likewise called chard.