Potato

The potato is a tuber? of [Solanum tuberosum]?, a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade? family, and one of the most widely used vegetable?s in Europe and North America. There are six other species of minor importance. There are thousands of variaties in cultivation.

The potato plant is thought to be native to the Andes and cultivated originally by the Inca people, spreading over time throughout other Native American groups and becoming a staple food. The Spanish explorers of Peru probably brought it to Europe in the 16th century, where it quickly spread. European settlers reintroduced it to North America during the immigration in the 17th century.

In the 18th century, the potato became a major food in Ireland, and was grown as a large scale crop throughout the British Isles. In fact, the Irish economy became so dependent on a single variety of potatoes as a staple that when an outbreak of [Late Blight of Potato]? swept Europe in the 1840's, the resulting famine led to terrible disease, death, and emigration. The blight marks an important, though tragic, point in Irish history.

Potatoes come in brown, yellow, red, and purple. Their flesh may be white or colored like the skin. Small types are called fingerling or new potatoes. Some common varieties are "Burbank Russet" (large, brown skin, white-fleshed, developed by [Luther Burbank]?), "Yellow Finn" (small, with yellow skin and flesh), and "German Butterball" (a yellow fingerling). Individual varietied may be labeled boiling, indicating that they retain some shape when boiled, or baking indicating that they only hold they shape if baked.

Potato plants are low-growing and have white flower?s with yellow stamen?s. The tubers are covered with buds called eyes. Common varieties of potatoes do no produce seed?s. Instead, they are propagated by planting pieces of existing tubers, cut to include at least one eye. Confusingly, these pieces are called seed potatoes.

Potatoes have a high carbohydrate content and include many vitamins and minerals (mostly concentrated in a thin layer under the skin) including vitamin C, making it an excellent source of nutrition. As well, it provides starch, flour?, alcohol (when fermented), dextrin, and livestock? fodder. It grows best in cool, moist climates such as Maine, Idaho, Germany, Russia, and Poland.

The potato is unrelated to the [sweet potato]?. It is sometimes referred to as the "Irish Potato" to distinguish.