The English word "potato" comes from Spanish patata, in turn from Taíno batata, which means "sweet potato", not the plant now known as simply … See more

Like the tomato, potatoes belong to the genus Solanum, which is a member of the nightshade family, the Solanaceae. That is a diverse family of … See more

Seed potatoes
Potatoes are generally grown from "seed potatoes", tubers specifically grown to be free from disease and to provide consistent and healthy plants. To be disease free, the areas where seed potatoes are grown … See more

Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) high. The stems are hairy. The leaves have roughly four pairs of leaflets. The flowers range from white or pink to blue or purple; they are yellow at the centre, and are insect-pollinated. See more

Domestication
Wild potato species occur from the southern United States to southern Chile. The potato was first domesticated in southern See more

Potatoes, both S. tuberosum and most of its wild relatives, are self-incompatible: they bear no useful fruit when self-pollinated. This trait is problematic for crop breeding, as all sexually-produced plants must be hybrids. The gene responsible for self-incompatibility, … See more

• Production of potatoes (2019)
• Potatoes are one of the most widely produced primary crops in the world.
In 2021, world production of potatoes was 376 million tonnes … See more