Ipomoea batatas

Botanical Description

Ipomoea batatas is a vigorous scrambling or climbing perennial plant producing stems 4 metres or more long from underground tubers. These stems can scramble over the ground or twine into other plants for support. Where the stems lay along the soil they will root at the nodes and form tubers[ 264 Title Vegetables Publication Author Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Publisher Macmillan Reference Books, London. Year 1995 ISBN 0 333 62640 0 Description Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species. ]. The plant was developed in cultivation, probably from the central American species Ipomoea trifida[ 264 Title Vegetables Publication Author Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Publisher Macmillan Reference Books, London. Year 1995 ISBN 0 333 62640 0 Description Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species. ]. One of the most widely grown root crops in the tropics, where it is a staple food. It is one of only seven world food crops with an annual production of more than 100 million metric tons[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. The root is also used as a source of an industrial starch[ 200 Title The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. Publication Author Huxley. A. Publisher MacMillan Press Year 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5 Description Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed. ].