Mangel-wurzel or mangold is a variety of beet (Beta vulgaris) with very large white or yellow swollen roots. It was introduced into England in the 18th Century and is almost exclusively used for animal food, though Soyer 1845 praised the cooked young leaves as "extremely good."
There is a tradition in Somerset, most famously at Hinton St George, of making hollowed-out mangold face-lanterns called 'Punkies' on the last Thursday of October, and a west-country tradition of competitive mangold-hurling.