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 1 ...

. 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 list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, 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 ''Fagopy ...

(''Fagopyrum esculentum''), and '' Fagopyrum tataricum'' (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 pro ...

s, because they are used in the same way as cereals but do not belong to the grass family Poaceae. 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 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 accepted the following species: *'' Fagopyrum callianthum'' Ohnishi *'' Fagopyrum capillatum'' Ohnishi *'' Fagopyrum caudatum'' (Sam.) A.J.Li *'' Fagopyrum crispatifolium'' J.L.Liu *'' Fagopyrum cymosum'' (Trevir.) Meisn. *'' Fagopyrum densivillosum'' 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 '' Fag ...

'' Moench *'' Fagopyrum gilesii'' (Hemsl.) Hedberg *'' Fagopyrum gracilipedoides'' Ohsako & Ohnishi *'' Fagopyrum gracilipes'' (Hemsl.) Dammer *'' Fagopyrum homotropicum'' Ohnishi *'' Fagopyrum jinshaense'' Ohsako & Ohnishi *'' Fagopyrum kashmirianum'' Munshi * ''Fagopyrum'' × ''kuntzei'' Beck *'' Fagopyrum leptopodum'' (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'' T.Yu *'' Fagopyrum qiangcai'' D.Q.Bai *'' Fagopyrum rubrifolium'' Ohsako & Ohnishi *'' Fagopyrum statice'' (H.Lév.) Gross *'' Fagopyrum tataricum'' (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