Fagopyrum

Miller

Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4, vol. 1. 1754.

Common names: Buckwheat sarrasin
Etymology: Latin fagus, beech, and Greek pyrus, wheat, alluding to resemblance of the achene to a beech-nut
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 572. Mentioned on page 216, 217, 218, 479, 480.
 TaxonIllustrator 
FNA5 P64 Polygonum polygaloides s polygaloides.jpegPolygonum polygaloides subsp. polygaloides
Polygonum douglasii
Fagopyrum esculentum
Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey
Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey
Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey

Herbs, annual; taprooted. Stems erect or ascending, glabrous or puberulent. Leaves deciduous, cauline, alternate, petiolate (proximal leaves) or sessile (distal leaves); ocrea persistent or deciduous, chartaceous; petiole base articulated; blade cordate, triangular, hastate, or sagittate, margins entire to sinuate. Pedicels present. Inflorescences axillary, or terminal and axillary, racemelike or paniclelike, pedunculate. Flowers bisexual or, rarely, bisexual and staminate on same plant, 2–6 per ocreate fascicle, heterostylous or homostylous, base stipelike; perianth nonaccrescent, white, pale-pink, or green, broadly campanulate, glabrous; tepals 5, distinct, petaloid, dimorphic, outer smaller than inner; stamens 8; filaments distinct, free, glabrous; anthers white, pink, or red, oval to elliptic; styles 3, reflexed, distinct; stigmas capitate. Achenes strongly exserted, brown to dark-brown or gray, sometimes mottled black, unwinged or essentially so, bluntly to sharply 3-gonous, glabrous. Seeds: embryo folded. x = 8.

Distribution

Introduced; Eurasia, e Africa, elsewhere, cultivated in temperate regions worldwide

Discussion

Species 16 (2 in the flora).

Fagopyrum esculentum and F. tataricum are cultivated widely. In North America, they often escape, but populations generally are ephemeral.

Archaeological evidence for the cultivation of buckwheat dates to 4600 bp in China and 3500 bp in Japan (O. Ohnishi 1998). Molecular studies indicate that Fagopyrum comprises two major clades, with F. esculentum and F. tataricum in the large-fruited “cymosum” group (O. Ohnishi and Y. Matsuoka 1996; Y. Yasui and O. Ohnishi 1998, 1998b; O. Ohsako and O. Ohnishi 2000).

Key

1 Achene faces smooth, angles smooth; tepals (2.5-)3-5 mm; perianths, creamy white topale pink; inflorescences paniclelike, 1-4 cm, terminal and axillary Fagopyrum esculentum
1 Achene faces irregularly rugose, angles often sinuate-dentate; tepals 1.5-3 mm; perianths,green with whitish margins; inflorescences racemelike, 2-10 cm, axillary Fagopyrum tataricum

"/2" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Fagopyrum"
essentially +  and unwinged +
mottled black;brown;dark-brown or gray +
3-gonous +
red +, pink +  and white +
oval +  and elliptic +
Harold R. Hinds† +  and Craig C. Freeman +
Miller +
stipelike +
sagittate;hastate;sagittate;hastate;triangular;cordate +
foliaceous +  and perfoliate +
scale-like +
just below the soil surface or and above the soil surface +  and spreading +
sessile +  and petiolate +
Buckwheat +  and sarrasin +
Eurasia +, e Africa +, elsewhere +  and cultivated in temperate regions worldwide +
curved +  and straight +
Latin fagus, beech, and Greek pyrus, wheat, alluding to resemblance of the achene to a beech-nut +
free +  and distinct +
homostylous +, heterostylous +  and staminate +
bisexual +  and , +
disarticulating +  and solid +
decumbent to erect +  and prostrate +
unwinged +  and winged +
black +, red +, brown +  and yellowish +
exserted +  and included +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
spheroidal +, 4-gonous +, lenticular +, biconvex +, discoid +, 3-gonous +  and 2-gonous +
axillary +  and terminal +
paniclelike +  and racemelike +
nonmembranous +
deciduous +
cauline +  and basal +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
entire +  and sinuate +
swollen +
partly +  and foliaceous +
deciduous +  and persistent +
cylindric +
coriaceous +  and membranous +
anatropous +, , +  and orthotropous +
accrescent +
spreading;erect +
green;pale-pink;green;pale-pink;white +
campanulate +
nonaccrescent +
fleshy +, indurate +  and membranous +
(2-)3(-4)-carpellate +
Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. +
ohnishi1996a +, ohnishi1998a +, ohsako2000a +, yasui1998a +  and yasui1998b +
slender;stout +
not scapose +
ascending +  and erect +
puberulent +  and glabrous +
penicillate +, fimbriate +  and capitate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-lobed +  and cylindric +
coriaceous +  and membranous +
distinct +
spreading;erect +
Fagopyrum +
Polygonaceae subfam. Polygonoideae +
distinct +
lobed +  and laciniate +
coriaceous +
persistent +
membranous +
pubescent +  and glabrous +