What is Buckwheat?
{{Taxobox | name = ''Common buckwheat'' | image = Illustration_Fagopyrum_esculentum0.jpg | image_width = 220px | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]] | ordo = [[Caryophyllales]] | familia = [[Polygonaceae]] | genus = ''Fagopyrum'' | binomial = ''Fagopyrum esculentum'' }} '''Buckwheat''' (or '''common buckwheat''') is a [[plant]] whose seeds may be used as a [[cereal]].<ref>Agriculture Canada. (1978). Growing buckwheat. Ottawa Canada: Canadian Department of Agriculture.</ref> Buckwheat is not a true [[grass]]. It is not related to [[wheat]], because [[wheat]] ''is'' a true [[grass]], and buckwheat is not. Buckwheat seeds look like small [[beech|beech tree]] seeds. Both seeds have three sides. ''Beech'' is also called ''buck'', which is how buckwheat got its name. Instead, buckwheat is related to [[sorrel]], [[knotweed]], and [[rhubarb]]. Buckwheat is referred to as a ''pseudocereal'' because its seeds are used in cooking the same as cereals, because they have complex [[carbohydrates]]. The cultivation of buckwheat grain declined sharply in the 20th century with the adoption of nitrogen [[fertilizer]] which increased the productivity of other staples. [[Image:Fagopyrum esculentum overview jp.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Buckwheat plants]] [[File:Fagopyrum гречка.jpg|thumb|left|200px| Buckwheat grains (seeds)]] {{-}} == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Polygonaceae]] [[Category:Edible nuts and seeds]] [[Category:Breakfast foods]]