I believe that bette à carde is Swiss chard. Good luck for the others.

Bette is a member of the "Chenopodiacea" family(Chénopodiacées). I have found references to "spinach beet", "foliage beet", "beet greens", spinach chard", Swiss chard".

It would also seem that "blette" ir often referred to in French as "poirée" (e.g. poirées à carde). Maybe a bit of clever googling wouldn't go amiss

beet - beetroot (also found leaf chard)
bette à carde - Swiss chard
côte de bette - chard stalk

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 mins (2005-03-31 13:22:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry typo on first line, should read: bette - beetroot

all three terms mean the same thing. As a professional vegetable grower, I can be sure!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 37 mins (2005-03-31 13:38:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

For côte de bette, as in a recipe, you can specify that the ribs of the leaves only are to be used. The green leafy parts are often cooked separately.

bette: white or garden beet or chard. Its leaves are eaten, prepared like spinach. Also called blette or poirée in French, and seakale beet or Swiss chard in English.
- côtes de bette: the main nervures or ribs of the above plant, prepared like 'cardon' (edible thistle). Also called 'carde'.
[The A-Z of French Food, Editions Scribo]

bette; chard; Chinese cabbage [Dict. agro-alimentaire / dict. of food science and industry]

I grew up eating a thing called "silver beet", but I don't know what it is, and it might be a Kiwiism.

Indeed, the Dictionnaire néo-zélandais/français by one of my old uni. lecturers, Ewen Jones, gives:
silver beet n beta vulgaris cicia [Chenopodiaceae] aussi Swiss chard, spinach, spinach beet - bette ou blette. NB très populaire in Nouvelle-Zélande; dont on ne mange en général que les feuilles.

I have a feeling spinach was only recently introduced to NZ. I certainly grew up knowing all about Popeye and knowing children were reputed to not like spinach, but never had an opportunity to find out for myself.

And Louis S. Leland Jr's A Personal Kiwi-Yankee Slanguage Dictionary says:
silverbeet. This has nothing to do with what we would normally call beets. It is instead a spinach-like green known in the US as Swiss chard.

Looks like your three items are one and the same, only refer to either all or only part of the plant. It is possible that the "bette à carde" is one specially developed for more tender (?), more palatable (?) stalks, or that it is a variety with broader stalks (I see a variety of shapes and sizes on the markets).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 41 mins (2005-03-31 13:42:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

They certainly know their chard in NZ: 3 varieties

CHARD
B . Silver Beet, Fordhook Giant . (Beta vulgaris cicia)
The old one with wide midribs and glossy green leaves that grows huge! It has the most wonderful flavour, also.
B .Rainbow beet, Bright Lights - (Beta vulgaris var. cicia)
A N.Z.cultivar, these plants show brilliant colour in the garden; all have good flavour, and are a great way to encourage your children to eat their greens! (3 different colours per 1/2 punnet.)
B. Barrotts Beet (Beta vulgaris var cicia)
Given to me by Penny from Waipu, this is a lovely, sweet flavoured beet, with brilliant red stems.
[http://www.ginnysherbs.com/springcat.htm]


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 51 mins (2005-03-31 13:52:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

\"Five Colour\" Often sold under the name of \"Rainbow Beet\":. stems are red, pink, yellow, orange, and white. The plants are ...
www.mounttiger.co.nz/se_ve/pdf/seeds.PDF

Tout sur la BETTE À CARDES
blette dans la cuisine niçoise
Poirée,
chic blette ou caga bléa (pop.) en nissard
Cardon
Bok Choy et Baï Chä en Chine

Beta Vulgaris

Anglais: Chard ou Swiss Chard
…

C’est un légume de pauvre, dit-on, qui pousse sans donner de tracas au jardinier et que l’on trouve toute l’année sur les marchés du Midi de la France.
La petite blette de Nice [so they DO have different varieties] est fort réputée et intervient dans de nombreuses préparations. Le vert des feuilles s’apparente à l’épinard. Les Niçois en raffolent en entrée, en gratin, en omelette, même en desserts dans des tartes avec des pommes et pignons.
Il ne faut pas confondre les bettes avec les cardes. Elles [les cardes or cardon, I presume; cardoon in English, it would appear] étaient jadis cultivées exclusivement en prévision de Noël et constituaient le plat de résistance de toute veillée. On consomme uniquement les côtes qui rappellent un peu en goût le fond d\'artichaut.
Pauvre en calories, c’est le légume idéal pour ceux qui veulent perdre du poids tout en apportant à la diète du potassium du calcium et des fibres.
[http://www.saveurs.sympatico.ca/ency_3/bette/bette.htm]

leaf beet or perpetual leaf beet, a member of the n=beet family grown for its green leaves; Swiss chard, a relation of the former, which has dark green leaves which have thick white mid-ribs and stalks (said to be similar to cardoon stalks); chard stalks, the thick stalks of chard which are enjoyed as a vegetable on thier own - Swiss chard has white stalks, but chard can have red, yellow and pink stalks and infusion of these colours throughout leaves - known as e.g. ruby chard, rhubarb chard, rainbow chard, etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs 44 mins (2005-03-31 18:45:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

leaf beet is also called spinach beet

my husband's family loves these vegetables, so I had to learn about them
1) bette is often "blettes" - Swiss chard (available in all supermarkets in the U.S.)
2) bette á carde, I think, is better known as "cardons" from the artichoke family - and the stickers hurt when cleaning them! (I have not seen these in any typical U.S. supermarket - although rather common in Paris)

cardoon: Definition and Much More From Answers.com
... related to the artichoke, cultivated for its edible leafstalks and roots. ... [Middle English cardoun, from Old French cardon, from Old Provençal, ...
www.answers.com/topic/cardoon

3) côte de bette - is simply specifying the stalk part of the swiss chard as one of the answerers already mentioned
it is common to only use one part of the vegetable in recipes (green top resembles spinach in taste and texture)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 hrs 3 mins (2005-04-01 05:04:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

... Les cardons (Cynara cardunculus) sont originaires de la région méditerranéenne. Ils sont de la même famille que les artichauts (Cynara scolimus). ...
www.ifrance.com/louisequebec/cardons.htm


La confusion vient de ce que ce sont les côtes des bettes et des cardons qui sont consommées. Néanmoins, les bettes sont entièrement comestibles alors que les feuilles de cardons ne le sont pas.
Les bettes portent d’autres noms, selon les régions : « blettes », « poirées » ou « jouttes ».
Mais ni elles, ni les cardons n’ont une grande valeur gastronomique !

Il existe deux variétés : la bette frisée que l’on trouve toute l’année, sauf en été et la bette blonde qui est sur les marchés en été et en automne.

Les cardons sont cultivés dans le Lyonnais, le Midi et le centre de la France. C’est un légume d’hiver.
Les côtes de bettes ou de cardons, aussi appelées « cardes », sont assez filandreuses.
Elles se cuisent à l’eau bouillante salée, puis, il faut les accommoder de la meilleure façon possible : le gratin avec une sauce béchamel bien muscadée est la plus classique.
Les feuilles de bettes sont rarement employées, sauf dans la tourte niçoise, mais elles peuvent se préparer comme des épinards.


http://www.e-sante.fr/guide/article_2458_123.htm