Biology:List of domesticated plants

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This map shows the sites of domestication for a number of crop plants. Places, where crops were initially domesticated, are called centers of origin.

This is a list of plants that have been domesticated by humans. The list includes individual plant species identified by their common names as well as larger formal and informal botanical categories which include at least some domesticated individuals. Plants in this list are grouped by the original or primary purpose for which they were domesticated, and subsequently by botanical or culinary categories. Plants with more than one significant human use may be listed in multiple categories.

Plants are considered domesticated when their life cycle, behavior, or appearance has been significantly altered as a result of being under artificial selection by humans for multiple generations (see the main article on domestication for more information). Thousands of distinct plant species have been domesticated throughout human history. Not all modern domesticated plant varieties can be found growing in the wild; many are actually hybrids of two or more naturally occurring species and therefore have no wild counterpart.

Food and cooking

Fruit trees

Pomes

Main page: Biology:Pome

Citrus fruits

Main page: Biology:Citrus

Nut trees

Main page: Biology:Nut (fruit)

Other

Numerous other trees have been domesticated for their fruits. There are more than 100 known domesticated plant species native to the Amazon alone.

Cereals

Main page: Biology:Cereal

Pseudocereals

Legumes

Main page: Biology:Legume
  • Beans – eaten dry as pulses or fresh as vegetables
  • Jicama (Pachyrhizus erosus) – the most valuable edible part of the plant is the tuberous root rather than the bean

Sweet small-plant fruits

Aggregated drupelet "berries"

Main page: Biology:Rubus

True berries

Main page: Biology:Ericaceae

Other

Vegetables

Selective breeding enlarged desired traits of the wild mustard plant (Brassica oleracea) over hundreds of years, resulting in dozens of today's agricultural crops. Cabbage, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower were all products of this selective breeding, making them all the same plant.
Main page: Biology:List of vegetables

Non-sweet small-plant fruits

Root vegetables

Main page: Biology:Root vegetable

Herbs and spices

Oil-producing plants

  • Olive (also eaten directly in many parts of the world)

Legumes grown principally for oil production:

  • Peanut (also eaten directly in the United States)
  • Soybean (also a major livestock feed and export crop, and sometimes eaten directly as a snack food)

Commodities

Plants grown principally as animal fodder or for soil enrichment:

Oil-producing plants (for fuel or lubrication):

Utility plants:

  • Bottle gourd (used for containers)

Psychoactive plants (for drugs or medicines):

  • Belladonna
  • Cannabis (Cannabis spp.)
  • Chocolate (Theobroma cacao)
  • Coffee (Coffea arabica)
  • Cola
  • Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum)
  • Quinine
  • Tea (Camellia sinensis)
  • Tobacco

Fiber plants (for textiles):

Medicinal plants

Main page: Biology:List of plants used in herbalism

Ornamental plants

References

  • Heiser, C. B. (1990). Seed to civilization: the story of food. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • Simpson, B.B.; Conner-Ogorzaly, M. (2000). Economic botany: plants in our world. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
  • Vaughan, J. G.; C. A. Geissler (1997). The new Oxford book of food plants. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

See also



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