522 



THE POTATO 



axillary or opposite the leaves: corolla gamope- 

 talous and rotate or shallow-campanulate; plaited 

 in the bud, the hmb angled or shallow lobed; 

 stamens usually 5, inserted on the throat of the 

 corolla, the anthers narrower or elongated and 

 connivent and mostly opening by an apical pore 

 or sht: ovary usually 2-loculed, ripening into a 

 berry which is sometimes enclosed in the persis- 

 tent calyx. The flowers are white, purple or 

 yellow. The species are herbs in temperate cli- 

 mates, but in warm countries many of them are 

 shrubby and some are small trees. Many of them 

 are climbers. Two species bear underground tubers 

 beside the tuberosum. The tuberosum is described 

 as follows: 



"*Low, weak-stemmed, much-branched per- 

 ennial with tender, herbaceous tops, and per- 

 petuating itself asexually by means of thickened 

 or tuberous underground stems, glabrous or pubes- 

 cent-hirsute : leaves are unequally pinnate; the 

 5-9 oblong-ovate leaflets are interposed with 

 much smaller ones: flowers are lilac or white, in 

 long-stemmed dichotomous clusters, the corolla 

 prominently lobed: the fruit is a small globular 

 yellow berry, usually not produced in the highly 

 developed modern varieties. It is a native of the 

 temperate Andes of Chile and adjacent regions. 

 There is a form with yellow-blotched leaves 

 (known as var. variegatum) sometimes cultivated 

 for ornament.' " 



A study of the structure and composition of the 

 potato is very interesting. Dr. C. F. Langworthy, 

 in *' Farmers' Bulletin 295 " of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, gives a very full 

 and comprehensive description. It follows: 



