What Is Wild Buckwheat?

Spreading Weed

• Europe is the native land of wild buckwheat, but the resemblance of its seeds to those of wheat helped the weed become prevalent elsewhere. Wild buckwheat seeds mingle with wheat seeds, so transported wheat usually contains some of the dormant seeds. When farmers plant the wheat, they also unwittingly sow the seeds of this weed, which quickly grows in with the crop.

Description

• The leaves of wild buckwheat look like arrowheads, with a stalk creating a sheath at the base of each leaf's stem. Wild buckwheat is a vine-like weed, growing between 8 and 40 inches. It generates flowers at the end of its stems or the bases of the foliage. They are not easy to see, being shades of green.

Similar Species

• A similar plant known as field bindweed closely resembles wild buckwheat, with some differences that permit you to tell one from another. Field bindweed is also a vine that twines about other plants, but it is a perennial species, while wild buckwheat is an annual. Filed bindweed has a thick and thorough root system, and its pink or white flowers are large and shaped like funnels. The leaves growing at the bottom of wild buckwheat are normally wider than those of field bindweed.

Effects

• This weed is so problematic for numerous reasons. It grows vertically or horizontally, giving it the ability to gather as much light as possible for its growth. It competes with the crops it infests for light, water and nutrients, reducing crop yields. The vines of wild buckwheat entangle in the harvesting machinery, requiring equipment repairs. The seeds that wind up stored with other grains have higher moisture content, raising temperatures and promoting the development of fungi. The seeds also carry diseases that damage other crops.