248 FIELD CROPS 



316. Botanical Description. The buckwheat plant is en- 

 tirely different from that of the cereals, consisting of a single 

 branching, succulent stem, broad leaves, and a main root 

 with several branches. The plant grows usually about 3 

 feet tall, with several branches, each of which ends in a flat- 

 topped cluster of flowers. These clusters also spring from the 











^ 



Figure 91 — Grains of the two most common varieties of buckwheat: Japanese 

 at the left, SilverhuU at the right. 



axils of the leaves. The leaves are alternate, triangular, and 

 about as broad at the base as they are long, the width vary- 

 ing from 2 to 4 inches. The flowers are white or pinkish- 

 white, without petals, but with a five-parted calyx, eight 

 stamens, and a three-parted pistil. The flower produces a 

 single three-angled seed, grayish or brown in color, about 

 one tenth of an inch long. 



317. Varieties. The most common varieties of the ordi- 

 nary buckwheat are the Japanese and the Silverhull. These 

 differ mainly in size and color. Silverhull is smaller and 

 plumper and lighter in color than Japanese. Opinions differ 

 as to which produces the more grain and the better quality 

 of flour. Tartary buckwheat is smaller than the ordinary 

 type and, according to growers in Maine, is somewhat hardier. 

 It probably yields less than Japanese and Silverhull. 



