Buckwheat Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum, listed in our catalog under the old name Polygonum fagopyrum) is an annual of the knotweed family, Polygonaceae, native to southwestern China and grown as a grain crop in cool, short-season regions from Russia and Poland to Japan, the Dakotas, and Canada. It grows 60 to 100 centimeters with reddish stems, heart-shaped leaves, and clusters of small white or pink flowers that ripen within weeks into three-sided, dark brown achenes. The hulls are the tough, glossy, blackish-brown outer shells removed when the kernel is milled; they are light, pyramid-shaped, and slow to compress, which is why they fill Japanese sobakawa pillows. We extract the dried hulls.