SC - Potato Notes.

[Jennifer L Rushman]

    There are  many and varied kinds of Potatoes found in S. America.  They
come in a variety of colors (purple, golden yellow, red) on both the skin and
flesh!  I believe their botanical origin is there.  These colored varieties
can be found in a few markets in the US, although they are not very common.  I
have seen purple in Detroit, MI at their Dealer's Market.  This origin may
shed more light as to who brought them to Europe (and when)   In addition the
sweet potato is not in the same family as the common white potato (Irish
potato) we all know.  The Irish potato is in the Solonaceae where the sweet
potato is in the Convolvulaceae (Morningglory) family.  The flowers of each are
quite different. Here's an expert from a Web page I found discussing
sweet/Irish Potatoes:
"Nature Bulletin No. 169-A
 Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Ill.
 Seymour Simon, President
 Roberts Mann, Conservation Editor

****:THE SWEET POTATO

When the Spanish explorers first came to the New World they were
searching for an ocean route to India and its fabled treasures of gold,
silver, spices and jewels. They found them on these two new
continents, North and South America, but they found many other
things far more valuable, including three of the world' s most
important food plants: corn, the white or Irish potato, and the sweet
potato.

Being a tropical plant, the sweet potato probably was found before the
Irish potato -- by Columbus in the West Indies, by Balboa in Central
America, and by Pizarro in Peru. Like corn, it was not found growing
wild, but it had been cultivated by the Incan and pre-Incan races for
thousands of years. They had developed many varieties, as is shown by
their ancient pottery. In most places in Latin America, the sweet
potato is called "camote", but the Incans called it "batata" and that is
apparently the origin of our word "potato".

The sweet potato was carried back to Spain and thence to Italy, from
where it spread to Austria, Germany, Belgium and England before the
first Irish potatoes arrived. It took 200 years for the English to accept
Irish potatoes as being fit for human food, but the sweet potato
immediately became a rare and expensive delicacy. Now it is widely
grown in Asiatic lands, including Japan and southern Russia, in the
warmer Pacific islands, in tropical America, and in the United States
as far north as New Jersey."

from :http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/natbltn/100-199/nb169.htm

Hope this shed a little light on potatoes.

  Lady Clare Hele
  Barony of Rivenstar, Middle Kingdom

  Jennifer Lynn Rushman                    Si hoc legere scis
  Purdue University                        nimium eruditionis habes.
  Master's Student, Horticulture










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