Changes

{{SPlantbox

{{SPlantbox

|familia=Solanaceae

|familia=Solanaceae

|genus=Solanum  

|genus=Solanum

|species=tuberosum  

|species=tuberosum

|common_name=Potato

|common_name=Potato

|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|Max wd metric=in

|Max wd metric=in

|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|exposure=sun

|exposure=sun

|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia

|max_zone=11

|max_zone=11

|image=Upload.png

|image=Potato sprouts.jpg

|image_width=240

|image_width=240

}}

}}

The '''potato''' is a [[starch]]y, [[tuber]]ous [[crop (agriculture)|crop]] from the [[perennial plant|perennial]] ''[[Solanum]] tuberosum'' of the [[Solanaceae]] family (also known as the nightshades).  The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the [[Andes]], there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes are the world's fourth largest food crop, following [[rice]], [[wheat]], and [[maize]].<ref>http://www.hort.purdue.edu/rhodcv/hort410/potat/po00001.htm</ref>  

| name = ''LATINNAME''   <!--- replace LATINNAME with the actual latin name -->

 

| common_names =    <!--- if multiple, list all, if none, leave blank -->

Potato plants are herbaceous [[perennial]]s that grow about 60&nbsp;cm (24&nbsp;in) high, depending on variety, the [[culm (plant)|culms]] dying back after flowering. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple [[flower]]s with yellow [[stamen]]s. The tubers of varieties with white flowers generally have white skins, while those of varieties with colored flowers tend to have pinkish skins.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=QDrqL2J-AiYC&pg=PA209&dq=potato+plants+60+cm&client=firefox-a Growing Food: A Guide to Food Production] ISBN 1402066244</ref> Potatoes are [[pollination|cross-pollinated]] mostly by [[insects]], including [[bumblebee]]s, which carry pollen from other potato plants, but a substantial amount of self-fertilizing occurs as well. Tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties.<ref>[http://www.ijdb.ehu.es/abstract.01supp/s37.pdf Regulation of potato tuberization by daylength and gibberellins]</ref>

| growth_habit = ?  <!--- tree, shrub, herbaceous, vine, etc -->

 

| high = ?  <!--- 1m (3 ft) -->

After potato plants flower, some varieties produce small green fruits that resemble green [[cherry tomato]]es, each containing up to 300 true [[seed]]s.  Potato fruit contains large amounts of the toxic [[alkaloid]] [[solanine]] and is therefore unsuitable for consumption. All new potato varieties are grown from seeds, also called "true seed" or "botanical seed" to distinguish it from seed tubers. By finely chopping the fruit and soaking it in water, the seeds separate from the flesh by sinking to the bottom after about a day (the remnants of the fruit float). Any potato variety can also be [[vegetative propagation|propagated vegetatively]] by planting tubers, pieces of tubers, cut to include at least one or two eyes, or also by cuttings, a practice used in greenhouses for the production of healthy seed tubers. Some commercial potato varieties do not produce [[seed]]s at all (they bear imperfect flowers) and are propagated only from tuber pieces. Confusingly, these tubers or tuber pieces are called "seed potatoes".

| wide =    <!--- 65cm (25 inches) -->

 

| origin = ?  <!--- Mexico, S America, S Europe, garden, etc -->

| poisonous =     <!--- indicate parts of plants which are known/thought to be poisonous -->

| lifespan =    <!--- perennial, annual, etc -->

| exposure = ?  <!--- full sun, part-sun, semi-shade, shade, indoors, bright filtered (you may list more than 1) -->

| water = ?  <!--- frequent, regular, moderate, drought tolerant, let dry then soak -->

| features =    <!--- flowers, fragrance, fruit, naturalizes, invasive -->

| hardiness =    <!--- frost sensitive, hardy, 5°C (40°F), etc -->

| bloom =    <!--- seasons which the plant blooms, if it is grown for its flowers -->

| usda_zones = ?  <!--- eg. 8-11 -->

| sunset_zones =    <!--- eg. 8, 9, 12-24, not available -->

| image = Upload.png  <!--- Freesia.jpg -->

| image_width = 240px    <!--- leave as 240px if horizontal orientation photo, or change to 180px if vertical -->

| image_caption =    <!--- eg. Cultivated freesias -->

{{Inc|

{{Inc|

Solanum tuberosum, Linn. Potato. Low, weak-stemmed, much-branched perennial with tender, herbaceous tops, and perpetuating itself asexually by means of thickened or tuberous underground sts., glabrous or pubescent-hirsute: lvs. unequally pinnate, the 5-9 oblong-ovate lfts. interposed with much smaller ones: fls. variable in color, white passing through various tints and shades of purple, violet, and blue, in long-stemmed dichotomous clusters: fr. a globular berry 1/2- l in. or more in diam., usually through lack of viable pollen not produced in the highly developed modern varieties except in favored localities and in the case of certain varieties, but fruiting abundantly in S. Chile and in Peru. Temp. Andes of Peru and Bolivia. See Potato.

Solanum tuberosum, Linn. Potato. Figs. 3628, also 3152, 3153, Vol. V. Low, weak-stemmed, much-branched perennial with tender, herbaceous tops, and perpetuating itself asexually by means of thickened or tuberous underground sts., glabrous or pubescent-hirsute: lvs. unequally pinnate, the 5-9 oblong-ovate lfts. interposed with much smaller ones: fls. variable in color, white passing through various tints and shades of purple, violet, and blue, in long-stemmed dichotomous clusters: fr. a globular berry 1/2- l in. or more in diam., usually through lack of viable pollen not produced in the highly developed modern varieties except in favored localities and in the case of certain varieties, but fruiting abundantly in S. Chile and in Peru. Temp. Andes of Peru and Bolivia. See Potato.

{{SCH}}

{{SCH}}

}}

}}

==Cultivation==

==Cultivation==

{{edit-cult}}<!--- Type cultivation info below this line, then delete this entire line -->

At harvest time, gardeners usually dig up potatoes with a long-handled, three-prong "grape" (or graip), i.e., a spading fork, or a potato hook.

===Propagation===

===Propagation===

===Pests and diseases===

===Pests and diseases===

==Species==

 

<!--  This section should be renamed Cultivars if it appears on a page for a species (rather than genus), or perhaps Varieties if there is a mix of cultivars, species, hybrids, etc    -->

==Varieties==

There are about five-thousand potato varieties worldwide. Three thousand of them are found in the Andes alone{{wp}}. They belong to eight or nine species, depending on the taxonomic school. Apart from the five-thousand cultivated varieties, there are about 200 wild species and subspecies.{{wp}}

 

Popular varieties ([[cultivar]]s) include{{wp}}:

 

|-

* BF-15

* Chiloé<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.papasnativas.cl/chwb/cet/variedades.html |title=Papas Nativas de Chiloé – Descripción de tuberculos |publisher=Papasnativas.cl |date= |accessdate=6 December 2009}}</ref>

==Gallery==

==Gallery==

{{photo-sources}}<!-- remove this line if there are already 3 or more photos in the gallery -->

<gallery perrow=5>

 

File:Potato plant.jpg| photo 1

File:Patates.jpg| photo 2

Image:Upload.png| photo 1

File:Perunapelto Nakkila.JPG| photo 3

Image:Upload.png| photo 2

Image:Upload.png| photo 3

</gallery>

</gallery>

==References==

==References==

<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->

<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->

<!--- xxxxx  *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432  -->

<!--- xxxxx  *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432  -->

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