Fagopyrum

Buckwheats are grown ornamentally for the attractive sagittate leaves and small white, pink of green flowers. Some can be used as a green manure, whilst F. esculentum is an important crop in Asia and Eastern Europe. Used for flour in blinis, or as a maize replacement in polenta.

With flowers much visited by honeybees and hoverflies in particular, buckwheats are clearly important for garden wildlife, but recent research has identified ants as additional pollinators of some species. Ants of course are the very bedrock of a garden ecosystem, preying upon 'pests', dispersing seeds, aerating the soil, feeding green woodpeckers and now pollinating our plants! The seeds are also favoured by birds such as sparrows and finches, while the leaves are palatable and devoured by a wide range of moth caterpillars.