Flora of New Zealand Series

buckwheat

Branched annual herb to c. 70 cm high, puberulent below and on nodes. Ochreae c. 5 mm long, entire. Petiole < to > blade. Lamina to c. 7 × 6 cm, broad- or ovate-triangular, glabrous or nearly so, often somewhat sinuate; base truncate to shallowly cordate; apex acute. Panicles on slender peduncles subtended by sessile lvs. Fls densely arranged. Bracts herbaceous, short-acuminate. Perianth 1.2-4.5 mm long, white or pinkish. Anthers mostly pink. Perianth of ♂ fls 1.2-2.5 mm long. Nuts 6-8 × 4-5.5 mm, acutely 3-angled, smooth, blackish with pale whitish dashes or brown with dark marks.

N.: Whangarei (N. Auckland), Morrinsville (Waikato), Tolaga Bay (north of Gisborne); S.: Oxford, Tai Tapu (near Christchurch), Ashburton area.

Probably C.E. Asia 1870

Usually cultivated land, occasionally waste ground, nearly always casual.

FL Nov-Apr.

Buckwheat is sometimes cultivated in N.Z. and occasionally self-sown plants occur for a few seasons afterwards in the vicinity of the original crop. It has been cultivated in many parts of Eurasia since prehistoric times.