Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen - Genres

E.N. SINSKAYA’S inventory of plant taxa
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3) Few or no species have been domesticated there, let alone spread to other
areas.
4) Fewer species and forms of wild-growing plants have been introduced into
cultivation.
5) No or very few endemic genera that include species of domesticated plants.
6) If there are endemic cultivated plants, they are neither economically nor agriculturally
of greater importance in this area.
7) These areas are areas of introduction of domesticated plants from elsewhere
rather than areas of their distribution to other places.
The flora of cultivated plants in dependent areas consists of elements from the ancient
basic areas of development of cultivated plants. Agriculture in these large regions
developed under the influence of the basic areas. For example, agriculture in
North America developed mainly on the basis of Mexican and Central American
crops and, later on, on crops from the Old World. In Central and Northern Europe, on
the Russian Plain and in Siberia, agriculture is based primarily on domesticated
plants introduced from Asia Minor and regions around the Mediterranean, etc. Ancient
Mediterranean elements and southwestern Asiatic ones predominate in the
domesticated flora of Ethiopia but are not clearly delimited from those of other African
areas. Elements from southern Asia occur there as well.
However, in the dependent areas, indigenous domesticated plants always occur, and
it is necessary to consider these elements separately.
Results
The cultivated species, which according to SINSKAYA have been the main components
of plant production since ancient times in each basic area of historical development
of the flora of cultivated plants, i.e., in the main areas of origin of agriculture
and horticulture, are listed in Appendix 1. The species of the dependent areas are
given in Appendix 2. In the Mediterranean, SINSKAYA separated Egypt as one of the
most ancient centres of agriculture. Together with the indigenous species of cultivated
plants, an astonishing diversity of endemic varieties and forms occurred in a
large number of species (ca. 50), which had been introduced into the country ca.
8,000-7,000 years ago (Appendix 3).
The ‘differential method of the analysis’ of the cultivated floras gives a much better
idea of their origin and evolution. Thus, the level of knowledge of biodiversity of each
crop and its geographical distribution is of fundamental importance.