Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaertn.

Stems ascending or erect, yel-lowish green, sometimes red-tinged, sparingly branched, (10-)30-80(-100) cm. Leaves: ocrea brownish hyaline, loose, funnel-form, 5-11 mm, margins truncate to obtuse, eciliate, glabrous or puberulent proximally; petiole (0.5-)1-7 cm, usually puberulent adaxially; blade palmately veined with 7-9 primary basal veins, broadly triangular to broadly hastate, 2-7 × 2-8 cm, base truncate or cordate to sagittate, margins ciliolate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescences axillary, racemelike, 2-10 cm, not crowded at stem apices; peduncle 1-6 cm, puberulent in lines. Pedicels ascending or recurved, 1-3 mm. Flowers often cleistogamous, homostylous; perianths green with whitish margins; tepals triangular to ovate, 1.5-3 mm, margins entire, apex obtuse to acute; stamens ca. 2 as long as perianth; styles 0.1-0.4 mm; stigmas purplish. Achenes uniformly gray or, infrequently, mottled with blackish spots medially, bluntly 3-gonous, 5-6 × 3-5 mm, faces irregularly rugose, angles usually obscure in proximal 1/ 2, more conspicuous in distal 2, unwinged, often sinuate-dentate. 2n = 16 (China).

It is a subtropical plant. It is more drought and cold tolerant than normal buckwheat. In Nepal it grows between 1400-3000 m altitude. It grows in open places. In Uttar Pradesh it grows between 1800-3500 m altitude. In Sichuan. In Yunnan.

Seeds are ground into flour. The flour can be eaten raw. It is also used for bread. The seeds also yield an edible oil. The leaves are also edible. They are cooked. Often they are cut small and fried. The seeds are also roasted.

Plants are grown from seed.