100 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— June 10,1800. 
NOTES ON THE WILD POTATO. 
Notwithstanding nil the researches that have been made 
into the origin of the truly Wild Potato, doubtful and con¬ 
tradictory evidence still obscures its history. Not to notice 
the old rejected statements on this subject, we find Meyen 
(“Botanical Geography,” p. 312, Eng. ed.) giving as its 
native stations the whole western side of South America, 
mentioning, that he himself found it wild in two places on 
the Cordilleras of Peru and Chile; and adopting the evi¬ 
dence of the Spanish botanists, Ruiz and l’avon, that it 
occurs wild on the mountains of Chan cay ; but pronouncing 
positively, as it would seem on the authority of Humboldt, 
that it was not cultivated by the Mexicans before the arrival 
of Europeans. It is not, however, absolutely certain that i 
the plants found by Meyen and the Spaniards were really j 
wild; Mr. Darwin obtained much better evidence upon the 
subject during the voyage of the Beagle. In latitude 15° S., 
on the east coast of South America, there is a clustre of 
islands, called by geographers the Chonos Archipelago. 
“ The Wild Potato," Mr. Darwin states, “ grows on these 
islands in great abundance, on the sandy, shelly soil near 
the sea-beach. The tallest plant was four feet in height. 
The tubers were generally small, but I found one of an oval 
shape, two inches in diameter: they resembled in every 
respect, and had the same smell as English Potatoes; but 
when boiled they shrunk much, and were watery and insipid, 
without any bitter taste. They are undoubtedly here in¬ 
digenous ; they grow as far south, according to Mr. Low, as 
lat. 50°, and are called Aquinas by the wild Indians of that 
part; the Chilotau Indians have a different name for them. 
Professor Henslow, who has examined the dried specimens 
which I brought home, says that they are the same with 
those described by Mr. Sabine, from Valparaiso, but that 
they form a variety which by some botanists has been con¬ 
sidered as specifically distinct. It is remarkable that the 
same plant should be found on the sterile mountains of 
central Chile, where a drop of rain does not Tall for more 
than six months, and within the damp forests of these 
southern islands.” 
There can here he no mistake. A naturalist like Air. 
Darwin could not but know Potatoes when he saw them ; 
and the whole history of their occurrence is 
exactly that of a wild plant. It is, however, 
very certain that in Chile itself the Potato is 
really wild, in the, latitude of Valparaiso, for it 
is described under the name of Maglia by 
Molina and others; and this Potato, sent to 
England by Mr. Caldcleugb in the year 1822, 
and grown in the Garden of the Society, is no 
more distinguishable from our cultivated va¬ 
rieties than they are from each other. It is 
true that it has been separated botanically, 
either as a race or species, under the name, of 
Solatium Commersonii; hut specimens of this 
Maglia now before me, gathered in the Gar¬ 
den in 1825, are unquestionably those of the 
species now cultivated all over Europe. 
Dr. Hooker (“Elora Antarctica,” ii. 330) 
extends the range of the Wild Potato by in¬ 
cluding Peru, Mendoza, and Buenos Ayres, 
the Maglia reaching quite, across the conti¬ 
nent, and growing about Buenos Ayres in 
hedges. The last statement is upon the au¬ 
thority of the late Dr. Gillies; but as it is not 
quite certain that the plant he found in such 
situations is really the Maglia, it seems better 
to limit the undoubted locality of Wild Pota¬ 
toes within the parallels of 30° and 18° S. 
lat. 
This supposes that the Potato is not found 
truly wild in Peru, hut that all the northern 
localities mentioned by authors are those of 
the cultivated plant. Upon this supposition 
the Wild Potato has not, as far as I am aware, 
been brought to Europe since the Potato dis¬ 
ease broke out; and if so, experimental proof 
that the wild South American sort is free from 
disease remains to be obtained. 
But I believe myself to be in a condition to 
show that it is a mistake to say that the cul¬ 
tivated Potato, that is to say, Solan inn tubero¬ 
sum, is unknown in a wild state in Mexico. 
To the kindness of Mr. C. A. Uhde, a Ger¬ 
man gentleman, who has resided for many 
years in the west of Mexico, the Society has 
been indebted for various samples of Wild 
Mexican Potatoes, among which two varieties 
have been raised, which are undoubtedly mere 
forms of the true Potato, as will be hereafter 
mentioned. 
Tubers of another kind were received, July 
25th, 1840, from Michuacan and the Valley of 
Toluca; and again in May, 1847, in a packet 
marked “Native Mexican Potatoes from an 
elevation of 8000 feet.” These produced a 
tall species, whose stems and leaves were very 
hairy, so as to have a somewhat hoary appear¬ 
ance. The plants had a strong tendency to 
produce a vast number of runners, but scarcely 
any tubers. The few that were occasionally 
So’.anum demisaum. 
i 
i 
I 
l 
