List of domesticated plants - Definition and Overview

This is a list of plants that have been domesticated by humans.

The list includes species or larger formal and informal botanical categories that include at least some domesticated individuals.

To be considered domesticated, a population of plants must have their behavior, life cycle, or appearance significantly altered as a result of being under humans control for multiple generations. (Please see the main article on domestication for more information.)

Plants in this list are organized by the original or primary purpose for which they were domesticated. When a plant has more than one significant human use, it has been listed in more than one category.

Food and cooking

• Fruit trees (See: List of fruits)
  • Drupes
    • coconut
    • olive
    • peach
  • Pomes
    • apple
    • pear
  • Citrus fruits
  • Nut trees
• Cereals (or grains, also called "corn plants" in the U.K.)
  • amaranth
  • barley
  • buckwheat
  • maize (called corn in the U.S.). Old domesticated plant, found in countless variations throughout the Americas.
  • millet (predominantly in African cultures, also for beer brewing)
  • oats (called corn in the U.K., esp. Scotland)
  • quinoa
  • rice. The chief crop in eastern Asia, and an important foodstuff around the world.
  • rye (used in Eastern Europe Countries, and for alcoholic beverages)
  • teff -- Ethiopia (also tef)
  • wheat (called corn in the U.K., esp. England). Has a very long history of domestication and is thought to be one of the first plants used for farming.
• Legumes
  • Beans (eaten dry as pulses or fresh as vegetables)
    • azuki bean
    • pea
    • lentil
    • mung bean
    • lima bean
    • common bean (including pinto bean, kidney bean and others)
• Small-plant fruits
  • grapes
  • strawberry
  • drupelet berries
    • raspberry
  • tomato
  • squash
    • pumpkin
    • zucchini
• Root vegetables
  • Non-starchy
    • beet
    • carrot
    • parsnip
  • Starchy
    • manioc
    • potato
    • sweet potato
    • cassava
    • taro
    • yam
• Vegetables (See: List of vegetables)
• Herbs and Spices (See: List of herbs and spices)
• Oil producing plants (for cooking)
  • olive
  • Legumes grown principally for oil production
    • peanut (though commonly eaten in the United States, and important in Thai cuisine)
    • soybean (though a major livestock feed, and sometimes eaten as a snack food in the U.S.)

Commodities

• Plants grown principally for animal food or soil enrichment
  • grasses grown for hay
  • alfalfa
  • clover
• Oil producing plants (for fuel or lubrication)
  • canola (variety of rape seed)
  • olive
• Drug plants
  • cannabis
  • coffee
  • cacao (source of chocolate)
  • opium poppy
  • quinine
  • tobacco
• Fiber plants (for textiles)
  • cannabis
  • cotton
  • flax
  • jute
  • manila hemp
• Research and science

Ornamental plants

• Houseplants
• Landscaping (See: List of garden plants)

See also

• List of domesticated animals
• List of domesticated fungi and microorganisms
• List of poisonous plants
• Botany
• Agriculture
• Horticulture