Fagopyrum esculentum
Fagopyrum tataricum
buckwheat, common buckwheat, common true buckwheat, domestic buckwheat, garden buckwheat, sarrasin commun
green buckwheat, India-wheat, sarrasin de tartarie, Tartary buckwheat, tatary buckwheat
ascending or erect, green or striped with pink or red, branched, (7–)15–90 cm.
ascending or erect, yelloish green, sometimes red-tinged, sparingly branched, (10–)30–80(–100) cm.
ocrea brownish hyaline, loose, funnelform, 2–8 mm, margins truncate, eciliate, glabrous or puberulent proximally;
petiole 1.5–6(–9) cm, usually puberulent adaxially;
blade palmately veined with 7–9 primary basal veins, hastate-triangular, sagittate-triangular, or cordate, 2.5–8 × 2–8 cm, base truncate or cordate to sagittate, margins ciliolate, apex acute to acuminate.
ocrea brownish hyaline, loose, funnel-form, 5–11 mm, margins truncate to obtuse, eciliate, glabrous or puberulent proximally;
petiole (0.5–)1–7 cm, usually puberulent adaxially;
blade palmately veined with 7–9 primary basal veins, broadly triangular to broadly hastate, 2–7 × 2–8 cm, base truncate or cordate to sagittate, margins ciliolate, apex acute to acuminate.
terminal and axillary, paniclelike, 1–4 cm, usually crowded at stem apices;
peduncle 0.5–4 cm, puberulent in lines.
axillary, racemelike, 2–10 cm, not crowded at stem apices;
peduncle 1–6 cm, puberulent in lines.
ascending or recurved, 2.5–4 mm.
ascending or recurved, 1–3 mm.
chasmogamous, heterostylous [homostylous];
perianths creamy white to pale pink;
tepals elliptic to obovate, (2.5–)3–5 mm, margins entire, apex obtuse to acute;
stamens ca. 1/2 as long as or slightly longer than perianth;
styles 1.5–2 mm or 0.5–1 mm;
stigmas purplish.
often cleistogamous, homostylous;
perianths green with whitish margins;
tepals triangular to ovate, 1.5–3 mm, margins entire, apex obtuse to acute;
stamens ca. 1/2 as long as perianth;
styles 0.1–0.4 mm;
stigmas purplish.
uniformly light brown or streaked with dark brown or black, sharply 3-gonous, 4–6 × 4–6 mm, faces smooth, angles prominent, unwinged or essentially so, smooth or occasionally with blunt tooth in proximal 1/3.
uniformly gray or, infrequently, mottled with blackish spots medially, bluntly 3-gonous, 5–6 × 3–5 mm, faces irregularly rugose, angles usually obscure in proximal 1/2, more conspicuous in distal 1/2, unwinged, often sinuate-dentate.
= 16 (China).
= 16 (China).
Fagopyrum esculentum
Fagopyrum tataricum
Fagopyrum esculentum is a heterostylous, obligate out-crosser. Morphological, allozyme, and molecular data suggest that the cultivated plants are most closely related to wild ones in northwestern Yunnan, China.
Common buckwheat is an important pseudocereal crop in China, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Poland; it is grown in many other countries. It is planted frequently in wildlife food plots, as a catch or cover crop, and as a honey plant in North America. Hulls from the achenes are used for pillow filling, which manufacturers claim has health benefits over traditional foam, polyester, or down fillings.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Fagopyrum tataricum is homostylous and self-pollinating. Cultivated plants appear to be most closely related to the wild ones in southwestern Sichuan, China. Tartary buckwheat is a less important crop plant and is encountered less frequently in the flora area than is F. esculentum. It is cultivated in mountainous areas of Asia and elsewhere (C. G. Campbell 1997).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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