THE SWEET POTATO. 7 



some wliicli sum up so well what was known at the 

 time about the plant that they must be of great 

 interest alike to the student and to the reader. 

 JBelow the writer has given quotations, translations, 

 and extracts from such important references, in 

 chronological order. 



For over a hundred years after the discovery of 

 America the sweet potato was rarely mentioned in 

 botanical literature. Here and there some casual 

 remarks are encountered about sweet roots, sweet 

 potatoes or yams, which are not definite enough to 

 be considered of value here. 



The first thorough account is given by Clusius 

 (Hist. Plant., published 1601, second part, p. 77). 



He distinguishes three types: The Camotes, 

 Batatas, and Inhames Lusitanorum. Under Batatas 

 he explains that there are three kinds, which he has 

 found growing in Baetica (a f>i'ovince of south- 

 western Spain), differing in color. Some were red 

 or purplish outside (and these were prized most), 

 others of a paler color, others white. A few had 

 white meat. They had vines spread diffusely over 

 the ground like those of the wild cucumber, and 

 rather thick, succulent leaves, from green to gray, in 

 shape resembling those of spinach. He could not 

 learn from anybody whether the plants ever bloomed 

 or bore fruit. 



The roots, which he had seen in London in 1581, 

 he describes as being usually ''clodrantalis," weigh- 

 ing a pound or more, uneven, with two or three or 

 more fibers growing from one head, with roots sim- 

 ilar to those of "Siseris," thicker at the lower end, 

 and becoming more slender at the upper end, 



Clusius says that the sweet potato originated in 

 the New World and was brought first over to Spain, 



