GO ENGLISH BOTANY. 



specimens. Leaves 1 to 3 inches long, shaped somewhat like those of 

 Convolvulus Sepiuin; tlie lower ones on long slender petioles; the 

 upper ones also stalked, and 1 or 2 of tlie ui)perniost quite sessile. 

 Racemes on short peduncles, arranged in a forked corymb. Flowers 

 I inch long, cream-coloured or pale pink. Nut about J- inch long, 

 projecting much beyond the withered perianth ; dark brown, Avith 

 3 very acute angles. Plant glabrous, with the veins of the leaves 

 and a line on one side of the stem and peduncles commonly squamose- 

 puberulent. 



Common Buckwheat. 



French, Renmiee Sarrasme. German, Buchweizen Knoterich. 



The specific name of this plant has been given it on account of the resemblance 

 "which the triangular seeds bear to beechmasts, and the English word for the plant has 

 probably the same origin, being a corruption of the German Buchivelzen (Buckwheat). 

 Some, however, derive the common name from the plant being sown to afford food to 

 deer, which is very improbable. The buckwheat has long been cultivated as an article 

 of food in most parts of central and southern Europe, though orignnally a native of 

 Asia, In this country it is known by the name of " Brank," and is grown chiefly as 

 food for game, or for the sake of its green fodder. On some parts of the continent 

 of Europe the ripe seeds are ground, and mixed with wheaten flour, and eaten as food. 

 It is not much cultivated in Great Britain, the moist and variable climate not favouring 

 its growth. One great advantage attending it is the very late period at which it may 

 be sown, and the short time it takes to perfect its seed. It will not bear frost, and 

 therefore should not be put into the ground before the first week in May, as the plants 

 are always above ground five or six days after sowing. It requires Uttle manure, and 

 ■will often yield a good crop on poor or exhausted soils, on which nothing else will 

 grow. The grain, which is small, black, and of a triangular form, is wholesome and 

 nutritious, containing about 10 per cent, of gluten, and from 58 to GO of starch, sugar, 

 and gum. Given to cattle, it fattens them rapidly, while as a substitute for oats it 

 answers well as food for horses. Poultry prefer it to any other grain, and all grani- 

 vorous birds relish it exceedingly, A considerable quantity of the grain is annually 

 consumed by the distillers, especially in the manufacture of gin. Beer may also be 

 brewed from it nearly as well as from barley. Of late years, buckwheat has been 

 brought into notice as a green manure, for which purpose it is said to answer 

 admirably, but it must be thickly sown. It also furnishes in the green state excellent 

 fodder for laheep and cattle, though it is said to have a narcotic effect on the former 

 animals. As human food the grain is scarcely inferior to the cereal grasses. It does 

 not make good bread, but is palatable, and probably wholesome in cakes and porridge. 

 Peter the Great was so fond of it that he usually supped off a dish of buckwheat boiled 

 and mixed with butter — a favourite way of preparing it at the present day. Buck- 

 wheat seems to have been unknown in Europe until about the time of the Crusades, 

 when it was brought from the East by some of the hardy adventurers Avho returned 

 from these expeditions. In memory of its origin as a plant of European culture, it is 

 still called in France " Ble Sarrasin." By some writers it is said to have been first 

 introduced into Spain by the Moorish conquerors at a much earlier period. Its 

 cultivation rapidly spread in Europe, and it is now extensively grown throughout 

 Germany, France, and Russia ; in the latter country forming a staple food of the 

 peasantry. In Belgium it is much grown as an ordinary rotation crop, and so highly 



