Sweet Potatos: The South American natives called the plant batatas. This word eventually became patata in Spanish, patae in French and potato in English. Since the introduction of sweet potato into Europe is thought to have preceded that of Irish potato (another native of South America), the word 鈥減otato鈥 was originally a reference to sweet potato and not Irish potato.
Sweet potato probably first migrated from South America in a westerly direction given the fact it has been carbon-dated in the Cook Islands to 1000 A.D. and was grown in Polynesia before the Age of Discovery. Early Polynesians who traveled to South America and back are credited with its introduction to their homeland as well as to Hawaii and New Zealand.
Columbus undoubted encountered sweet potato in his early voyages to the West Indies but it was not until his fourth voyage (to Yucatan and Honduras) that he recorded its discovery in his journals. He is credited with its introduction to the New World (Spain) in about 1500 and a number of different types were cultivated there by the mid-1600s. It was very slow to spread to more northern regions of Europe because of its affinity to warm temperatures.
Sweet potato was grown in what is now Virginia as early as 1648.
Sweet Potatos: The South American natives called the plant batatas. This word eventually became patata in Spanish, patae in French and potato in English. Since the introduction of sweet potato into Europe is thought to have preceded that of Irish potato (another native of South America), the word 鈥減otato鈥 was originally a reference to sweet potato and not Irish potato.
Sweet potato probably first migrated from South America in a westerly direction given the fact it has been carbon-dated in the Cook Islands to 1000 A.D. and was grown in Polynesia before the Age of Discovery. Early Polynesians who traveled to South America and back are credited with its introduction to their homeland as well as to Hawaii and New Zealand.
Columbus undoubted encountered sweet potato in his early voyages to the West Indies but it was not until his fourth voyage (to Yucatan and Honduras) that he recorded its discovery in his journals. He is credited with its introduction to the New World (Spain) in about 1500 and a number of different types were cultivated there by the mid-1600s. It was very slow to spread to more northern regions of Europe because of its affinity to warm temperatures.
Sweet potato was grown in what is now Virginia as early as 1648.