[Sca-cooks] Beets (was Eggplant)

[ranvaig at columbus.rr.com]

I was browsing the Florilegium and found this on beets:

http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-VEGETABLES/vegetables-msg.html
>Curiously the red beet with a bulbous
>root was new to Gerard; common beets were white or
>yellow and eaten as greens. (Even in the 16th, beets
>often were called by their French name.)
>Alysoun

Were they just new to England, but known in France and
elsewhere, or a new variety?

Do Lumdardy tarts use red beets or white/yellow beets? 
It doesn't sound like it means to use the greens.

Ranvaig