Hayes and Garber - Cucurbit Breeding

CLASSIFICATION AND INHERITANCE OF SMALL GRAINS 107
These plants are wheat-like in spike and seed characters, yet
they resemble rye in some other characters. They are now being
tested for winter hardiness.
FIG. 25. Spikes from four F 4 plants of a wheat-rye cross. Spike No. 39 is
much like rye in regard to the awn development and ciliated glumes. Other
heads resemble wheat more than rye. (After Love.)
BUCKWHEAT 1
Buckwheat belongs to the buckwheat family (Poiygonacece).
The original home of this plant was probably Asia, whence it was
introduced into Europe through Tartary and Russia in the middle
ages. The generic name of buckwheat, Fagopyrum, comes from
the Latin, fagus, beech, and the Greek, puros, wheat, based on
the fact that the seed of buckwheat resembles the beechnut.
The three species of economic importance are F. emarginatum,
F. tataricum, and F. esculentum. The forms commonly grown
in the United States belong to the last-named species. Classification
is based on such characters as size, color, and shape of
seed; color of growing stem; average height of plant; shape of
leaf; and flower characters. The flowers of buckwheat are
dimorphic, i.e., some have long stamens and short styles, others
just the reverse. Only one kind of flower is produced on the
1
CARLETONT, 1916.