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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hemerochory | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemerochory | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:18:37.619457+00:00 | kb-cron |
Ethelochory is intentional transportation of plants or seeds to different regions for agricultural and gardening purposes. Numerous crops that are important for human nutrition have been willingly spread by humans. Wheat, barley, lentil, beans, flax and poppy seeds, for example, are not typical plants for Central Europe, although they are all archaeotypes. People brought them after the beginning of the Neolithic (about 6,500 years ago) gradually from the eastern Mediterranean to central Europe and the rest of the world through the upcoming centuries. In central Europe, it is especially Cyperus esculentus which has been classified since the 1980s among the invasive species, because their tubers have been spread en masse, by sticking to vehicles or machines. Many of the old cultivated plants have spread around the world, primarily through emigrants from Europe. Grown for at least 4,000 years, wheat was introduced to America in the 16th century and Australia in the 19th century. Orange, lemons, apricots and peaches were originally native to China. They probably came via the Silk Road as early as the 3rd century BC. In Asia Minor and from there through the Romans to the Mediterranean. European settlers, in turn, used these species to grow fruit in suitable regions of America. From the 16th century, ornamental plants were grown more and more. Species native to Europe were first introduced as garden plants. These include, for example, the gladioli, the ornamental onion, European bluebell, the snowdrop native to southeast Europe and the common clematis. Ornamental plants from more distant regions were added later. From East Asia in particular, a number of plants were introduced to Europe as exotic or for economic reasons.
=== Speirochory ===
Some plants were unintentionally introduced in this process; this unwanted hemerochory as a seed companion is called speirochory. Since every seed packet also contains seeds of the herbs of the field from which it comes, their competitors, the "weeds", were also sold through the trade in the seeds of the useful plant. The real chamomile is one of the plants that were unintentionally spread as a companion to seeds. Speirochoric plants are sown on human-prepared soil and are competitors of the crops. Plants that are considered to be archaeophytes, such as the poppy, native to the Mediterranean area, the real chamomile, the cornflower and field buttercup, spread through the seeds with the grain in Central Europe. In the meantime, the seeds are cleaned more thoroughly using modern methods and the cultivation is hardly contaminated by pesticides or other control techniques. In spite of this, Cuscuta campestris, which is classified as a problematic weed in Australia, was accidentally imported into the country together with basil seeds in 1981, 1988 and 1990.
== See also == Assisted colonization Escaped plant Volunteer plant Adventive plant
== References ==