Fagopyrum dibotrys (perennial buckwheat, "Shakuchirisoba")

Japanese name: シャクチリソバ （赤地利蕎麦）
Scientific name: Fagopyrum dibotrys

[Overview]
A perennial 40–100 cm tall, found in its native range on slopes of valleys and grasslands at elevations of 300–3,200 m.
It has a woody tuber underground.
Stems grow in clusters from the tuber.
The stem is erect, much branched, hollow, and sometimes tinged with brown.
Leaves are simple and alternate, triangular to heart-shaped, 4–12 cm long and 3–11 cm wide, and wrinkled.
The leaf margin is entire.
The petiole is 2–10 cm.
Racemes arise from the upper leaf axils and bear flowers 5–6 mm across.
There are no petals; the white calyx is 4–6-lobed and conspicuous and petal-like.
The anthers of the stamens are pink.
The fruit is a triangular-pyramidal achene 6–8 mm long with 3 ridges, ripening to blackish brown.

[History]
It was planted in the Koishikawa Botanical Garden in the early Showa period, and plants cultivated mainly as medicinal plants in herb gardens and elsewhere escaped and have become naturalized on roadsides and riverbeds in various places.

[Uses]
Besides medicinal use, the young leaves are eaten.
It is closely related to buckwheat, but the fruit is bitter and unsuitable for eating.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, moist place.
Direct sunlight in summer can cause leaf scorch.
It grows well and spreads readily even when left alone.

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