PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
No image available
Polygonaceae FAMILY

Fagopyrum cymosum

Fagopyrum cymosum

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
GrowthFast

Fagopyrum cymosum is a plant of temperate regions, A very cold-hardy plant when dormant, tolerating temperatures down to about -20°c[1], though the new growth in spring is frost tender[PFAF] A very tolerant and easily grown plant, it prefers dry sandy soils but succeeds in most conditions including poor, heavy or acid soils and even sub-soils. Prefers a good soil in partial shade[1], growing very well in woodland conditions[PFAF]. The plant is often excited into growth quite early in the year if the weather is mild, and will then be cut back by the first frost. It usually regrows quickly from the base[PFAF]. Perennial buckwheat is occasionally cultivated for its edible seed, though this is not produced as abundantly as in the annual members of this genus[PFAF]. Our plants flower in late summer and early autumn, and have not as yet produced any seed. Since all our plants come originally from one seedling, it is quite possible that the plant is self-sterile[PFAF]. There is at least one named variety, selected for its ornamental value. 'Variegata' has variegated leaves[2].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer. Division is very easy at almost any time in the growing season, though it is best avoided in early spring because the young growth can be damaged by late frosts. The divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Fagopyrum+cymosum>

Pollinators

Bees, Flies

References

  1. [1]Perennials. Volumes 1 and 2. — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1991 · ISBN 0-330-30936-9 ↩︎Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Flowers of the Himalayas. — Polunin. O. and Stainton. A. · Oxford Universtiy Press · 1984 · ISBN - ↩︎A very readable and good pocket guide (if you have a very large pocket!) to many of the wild plants in the Himalayas. Gives many examples of plant uses.
  4. [4]A Barefoot Doctors Manual. — ? · Running Press; Philadelphica. · 1977 · ISBN 0-914294-92-X ↩︎A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.
  5. [5]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]Wonder Crops. 1987. — Natural Food Institute, ↩︎Fascinating reading, this is an annual publication. Some reports do seem somewhat exaggerated though.
  7. [7]Plants and People of Nepal — Manandhar. N. P. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-527-6 ↩︎Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.
  8. [8]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  9. [9]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  10. [10]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  11. [11]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  12. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎