Centre of Origin

The center of origin (or centre of origin) is a geographical area where a group of organisms, either domesticated or wild, first developed its distinctive properties. Centers of origin are also considered centers of diversity.

World centers of origin of Cultivated Plants

1) South Mexican and Central American Center

• Grains and Legumes: maize, common bean, lima bean, tepary bean, jack bean
• Melon Plants: malabar gourd, winter pumpkin, chayote
• Fiber Plants: upland cotton, bourbon cotton, henequen (sisal)
• Miscellaneous: sweetpotato, arrowroot, pepper, papaya, guava, cashew, wild black cherry, chochenial, cherry tomato, cacao.



common bean



chayote

2) South American Center

• Root Tubers: Andean potato, other endemic cultivated potato species
• Grains and Legumes: Starchy maize, lima bean, common bean
• Vegetable Crops: pepino, tomato, ground cherry, pumpkin, pepper
• Fiber Plants: Egyptian cotton

Egyptian cotton

Ground Cherry

3)Mediterranean Center

• Cereals and Legumes: durum wheat, emmer, sand oats, pea
• Forage Plants: Egyptian clover, white clover
• Oil and Fiber Plants: flax, rape, black mustard, olive
• Vegetables: garden beet, cabbage, turnip, lettuce, asparagus

durum wheat

egyptian clover

4) Middle East

• Grains and Legumes: einkorn wheat, common wheat, common oats
• Forage Plants:
  alfalfa, Persian clover, vetch
• Fruits: fig, pomegranate, apple, pear, cherry

alfalfa

pomegranate

5) Ethiopia 

• Grains and Legumes: Abyssinian hard wheat, barley, grain sorghum, cowpea
• Miscellaneous: sesame, castor bean, coffee, indigo

grain sorghum

castor bean

6) Central Asiatic Center

• Grains and Legumes: common wheat, club wheat, shot
• Fiber Plants: hemp, cotton
• Vegetables: onion, garlic, spinach, carrot
• Fruits: pistacio, pear, almond, grape, apple

hemp

pistacio

7) Indian Center

• Cereals and Legumes: rice, chickpea, rice bean
• Vegetables and Tubers: eggplant, cucumber, radish, taro
• Fruits: mango, orange, tangerine, citron
• Sugar, Oil and Fiber Plants: sugar cane, coconut palm, tree cotton
• Spices, Stimulants, Dyes and Miscellaneous: hemp, black pepper, cinnamon tree, bamboo

tangerine

cinnamon tree

8) Chinese Center

• Cereals and Legumes: broomcorn millet, Japanese barnyard millet, soybean
• Roots, Tubers and Vegetables: Chinese yam, raddish, Chinese cabbage, onion, cucumber
• Fruits and Nuts: pear, Chinese apple, peach, apricot, cherry, walnut, litchi
• Sugar, Drug, and Fiber Plants: sugar cane, ginseng camphor, hemp 

chinese yam

apricot