The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus ''Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in ...

. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...

, much of

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, and central and southeastern China. Species have been widely introduced elsewhere, throughout the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

and parts of Africa and South America.

Description

''Fagopyrum'' contains 15 to 16 species of plants, including two important

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

plants,

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as ''Fagop ...

(''Fagopyrum esculentum''), and ''

Fagopyrum tataricum ''Fagopyrum tataricum'', also known as Tartary buckwheat, green buckwheat, ku qiao, Tatar buckwheat, or bitter buckwheat, is a domesticated food plant in the genus ''Fagopyrum'' in the family Polygonaceae. With another species in the same genus ...

'' (Tartary buckwheat). The two have similar uses, and are classed as

pseudocereal A pseudocereal or pseudograin is one of any non-grasses that are used in much the same way as cereals (true cereals are grasses). Pseudocereals can be further distinguished from other non-cereal staple crops (such as potatoes) by their being proc ...

s, because they are used in the same way as cereals but do not belong to the grass family

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

. Within ''Fagopyrum'', the cultivated species are in the Cymosum group, including ''Fagopyrum cymosum'' or perennial buckwheat, the artificial hybrid ''Fagopyrum'' × ''giganteum'', and ''Fagopyrum homotropicum''. This genus has five-petaled flowers arranged in a compound

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

that produces laterally flowered

cymose An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

clusters.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Fagopyrum'' was first published by

Philip Miller Philip Miller FRS (1691 – 18 December 1771) was an English botanist and gardener of Scottish descent. Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden for nearly 50 years from 1722, and wrote the highly popular ''The Gardeners Dicti ...

in 1754. It is placed in the tribe Fagopyreae (as the only genus) in the subfamily

Polygonoideae Polygonoideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Polygonaceae. It includes a number of plants that can be highly invasive, such as Japanese knotweed, ''Reynoutria japonica'', and its hybrid with '' R. sachalinensis'', ''R.'' × ''bohemica ...

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

accepted the following species: *''

Fagopyrum callianthum The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' Ohnishi *''

Fagopyrum capillatum The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' Ohnishi *''

Fagopyrum caudatum The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' (Sam.) A.J.Li *''

Fagopyrum crispatifolium The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' J.L.Liu *''

Fagopyrum cymosum ''Fagopyrum cymosum'', also known as tall buckwheat, is a domesticated plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, for animal feed, and as an ornamental plant. It is native to much of China, and to Bhutan, Nepal, India, Burma, and Vietnam. Chemi ...

'' (Trevir.) Meisn. *''

Fagopyrum densivillosum The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' J.L.Liu *''

Fagopyrum esculentum Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as ''Fagop ...

'' Moench *''

Fagopyrum gilesii The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' (Hemsl.) Hedberg *''

Fagopyrum gracilipedoides The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' Ohsako & Ohnishi *''

Fagopyrum gracilipes The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' (Hemsl.) Dammer *''

Fagopyrum homotropicum The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' Ohnishi *''

Fagopyrum jinshaense The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' Ohsako & Ohnishi *''

Fagopyrum kashmirianum The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' Munshi * ''Fagopyrum'' × ''kuntzei'' Beck *''

Fagopyrum leptopodum The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' (Diels) Hedberg *'' Fagopyrum lineare'' (Sam.) Haraldson *'' Fagopyrum longzhoushanense'' J.R.Shao *'' Fagopyrum luojishanense'' J.R.Shao *'' Fagopyrum macrocarpum'' Ohsako & Ohnishi *'' Fagopyrum pleioramosum'' Ohnishi *''

Fagopyrum pugense The genus ''Fagopyrum'' is in the flowering plant family Polygonaceae. It includes some important food plants, such as '' F. esculentum'' (buckwheat) and '' F. tataricum'' (Tartary buckwheat). The genus is native to the Indian subcontin ...

'' T.Yu *'' Fagopyrum qiangcai'' D.Q.Bai *'' Fagopyrum rubrifolium'' Ohsako & Ohnishi *'' Fagopyrum statice'' (H.Lév.) Gross *''

'' (L.) Gaertn. *'' Fagopyrum tibeticum'' (A.J.Li) Adr.Sanchez & Jan.M.Burke *'' Fagopyrum urophyllum'' (Bureau & Franch.) Gross *'' Fagopyrum wenchuanense'' J.R.Shao *'' Fagopyrum zuogongense'' Q.F.Chen

References

External links

*
USDA Plants Profile: ''Fagopyrum''

Flora of North America: ''Fagopyrum''

Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Fagopyrum''

https://web.archive.org/web/20150909164416/http://fagopyrum.uhostall.com/: Fagopyrum Journal Archive
{{Authority control Polygonaceae genera Crops originating from Asia Taxa named by Philip Miller

Description

Taxonomy

Species

See also

References

External links