Common buckwheat was domesticated and first cultivated in inland Southeast Asia, possibly around 6000 BCE, and from there spread to Central Asia and Tibet, and then to the Middle East and Europe, which it reached by the 15th century. Domestication most likely took place in the western Yunnan region of China.
Despite its name, buckwheat is not closely related to wheat. Buckwheat is not a cereal, nor is it a member of the grass family. It is related to sorrel, knotweed, and rhubarb. Buckwheat is considered a pseudocereal because the high starch content of the seeds enables buckwheat to be cooked and consumed like a cereal.
