ii4 FOOD-GRAINS OF INDIA. 



BUCKWHEAT. 

 Fagopyrum esculentum, Moench. 



Synonyms F. vulgare (Endl.) ; F. sarracenicum (Dumort.) ; Polygonum fago- 



pyrum (L.); P. dioicum (Hamilt.). 

 Punjab Kala-Trumba, Chin, Kathu, Bras, Tsubri, Phapra. 



An upright annual herb of quick growth ; stem, hollow 

 and angular ; leaves, hastate or cordate triangular ; fruit, trigo- 

 nous, with keeled edges. 



Northern India, ascending to 11,500 feet in Kumaon. 



In the absence of any analysis of Indian-grown common 

 buckwheat, the figures that follow may be taken as representing 

 the ordinary composition of the husked seeds of this plant. 



COMPOSITION OF BUCKWHEAT (HUSKED), C. 



The nutrient-ratio is here i : 47, and the nutrient-value 86. 



No analyses have been published of the following species 

 of Fagopyrum grown in India: F. emarginatum, Roth. (Nepal, 

 Kunawar) ; F. cymosum, Meisn. (Nepal, Mussori, Kashmir, 

 Kumaun) ; F. triangulare, Meisn. (Nepal, Kumaun, Sirmur, 

 Assam) ; and F. rotundatum, Bab. (Kunawar, Kumaun). 



Buckwheat is used by the poorer classes in some parts of 

 Upper India as food ; the seeds are ground into meal and 

 made into thin cakes. 



Fagopyrum tataricum, Gaertn. 



Synonyms F. dentatum (Moench.) ; Fagotriticum sibiricum (L.) ; Frumentum 



sarracenicum (Act. Nat. Cur.) ; Polygonum tataricum (L.). 

 North- West Provinces Daran. 



The six species of buckwheat grown in India are so similar 

 that they are generally confounded together by the natives 



