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SWEET POTATO

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 224 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SWEET See also:

POTATO . This plant, known botanically as Ipomaea batatas (formerly as Convolvulus batatas), and a member of the natural See also:order See also:Convolvulaceae, is generally cultivated in most tropical countries for the See also:sake of its tuberous See also:root, which is an See also:article of See also:diet greatly in See also:request. It is a climbing perennial with entire or palmately-lobed leaves very variable in shape See also:borne on slender See also:twining stems. The See also:flowers are borne on See also:long stalks in loose clusters or cymes, and have a See also:white or rosy See also:funnel-shaped corolla like that of the See also:common bindweed of See also:English hedges. The edible portion is the root, which dilates into large See also:club-shaped masses filled with See also:starch. It is See also:ill suited to the See also:climate of the See also:United See also:Kingdom, but in tropical countries it is as valuable as the potato is in higher latitudes. The plant is not known in a truly See also:wild See also:state, nor has its origin been ascertained. A. de See also:Candolle concludes that it is in all See also:probability of See also:American origin, where it has been cultivated from pre-historic times by the See also:aborigines. It is mentioned by See also:Gerard as the " potato," or " potatus " or " potades," in contra-distinction to the " potatoes " of See also:Virginia (Solanum tuberosum). He See also:grew it in his See also:garden, but the climate was not warm enough to allow it to See also:flower, and in See also:winter it perished and rotted. But as the appellation " common " is applied to them the roots must have been introduced commonly, Gerard tells us he bought those that he planted at " the See also:Exchange in See also:London," and he gives an interesting See also:account of the uses to which they were put, the manner in which they were prepared as " sweetmeats," and the invigorating properties assigned to them. The allusions in the Merry Wives of See also:Windsor and other of See also:Shakespeare's plays in all probability refer to this plant, and not to what we now See also:call the " potato." The See also:plants require a warm sunny climate, long See also:season, and a liberal See also:supply of See also:water during the growing season.

For an account of the cultivation in See also:

North See also:America, where large quantities are grown in the See also:Southern states, see L. H. See also:Bailey, Cyclopaedia of American See also:Horticulture (1902). See also:Sir See also:George See also:Watt, See also:Dictionary of the Economic Products of See also:India (189o), gives an account of its cultivation in India, where some confusion has arisen by the use of the name batatas for the See also:yam (q.v.); the author suggests that the introduction of the sweet potato into India is comparatively See also:recent. SWEET-SOP, or See also:Sugar See also:Apple, botanical name Anona squamosa, a small See also:tree or See also:shrub with thin oblong-ovate leaves, solitary greenish flowers and a yellowish-See also:green See also:fruit, like a shortened See also:pine See also:cone in shape with a tubercle corresponding to each of the carpels from the See also:aggregation of which it has been formed. The fruit is 3 to 4 in. in See also:diameter and contains a sweet creamy-yellow custard-like pulp. It is a native of the See also:West Indies and tropical America; it is much prized as a fruit, and has been widely introduced into the eastern hemisphere. Another See also:species, A. muricala, is the sour-sop, a small ever-green tree bearing a larger dark-green fruit, 6 to 8 in. long and r to 5 lb in See also:weight, oblong or bluntly conical in shape, with a rough spiny skin and containing a soft white juicy sub-See also:acid pulp with a flavour of See also:turpentine. It is a popular fruit in the West Indies, where it is native, and is grown with See also:special excellence in See also:Porto Rico. A drink is made from the juice. A. reticulata is the custard apple (q.v.) and A. palustris the See also:alligator apple.

End of Article: SWEET POTATO

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