A landrace is a grouping of animals or plants with similar characteristics that have been developed from natural or wild populations. Landraces can be the result of natural forces or domestication, when naturally-occurring, they are plants (or animals) that are ideally suited to a particular region or environment; domesticated landraces have been selectively bred to replicate or enhance some genetic characteristics while reducing or eliminating others.
In animals, the term 'landrace' is taken to mean a type or group derived from a specific population but not yet formalised into a consistently replicable breed, or the specific natural population from which a breed derives.
In plants, a landrace is a cultivated crop species that has evolved from populations due to selective pressures from traditional farmers.