Cultivation, history, origin, and distribution of cultivated plants

Useful plants have their centre of origin in different parts of the world. These centres can be found in Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean and America. The avocado, several beans, cashew nut, cassava, potato, pineapple, cotton species, quinine, cocos palm, maize, rubber, sisal, tobacco, tomato, vanilla and sunflower originate from America; the almond, apple, grape, pea, millet, oat, cherry, cabbage, pear, plum, radish, rye, lettuce, wheat, onion and carrot from the Middle–East; the pigeon pea, millet, calabash, cotton species, coffee, melon, sesame seed, sorghum, water melon, and yam from Africa; ginger, jute, cardamom, cucumber, mango, pepper, rice and tea from Indo-Malesia; the banana, and citrus fruits from Southeast Asia; the peach and soy bean from China and sugar cane from New Guinea. In most cases the places of origin were tropical or subtropical mountain areas.

Two plant families are of greatest importance: the Family Gramineae (= Poaceae), the grass family (Gramineae 1), from which grains and cereals of both the Old and the New World arose; and the Family Papilionaceae (= Fabaceae), the Pea family (Leguminosae 1), which produced a large variety of legumes like peas and beans. In the temperate zones the Family Rosaceae or Rose family (Rosaceae 1), and the Family Cruciferae (= Brassicaceae) or Mustard family (Cruciferae 1) produced a large variety of crops. The Rose family includes apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, almonds, peaches, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. The Mustard family includes a large variety of vegetables like all cabbages. Other plant families provide only one single useful species: the sweet potato is the only useful member of the Family Convolvulaceae or Bindweed family (Convolvulaceae 1); the olive is the only one of the Family Oleaceae or Olive family (Oleaceae 1); and the grape the only useful member of the Family Vitaceae or Grape family (Vitaceae 1).