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USA

Louisiana State Vegetable:

Photo of sweet potatos freshly dug from groundF
Freshly dug sweet potato (Ipomoea batatasL) by Miya on Wikipedia - published
under terms of the GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2 or later

Sweet Potato

Louisiana designated the sweet potato as the official state vegetable in 2003. Sweet potatoes come in many varieties and are a highly nutritious, versatile food that tastes great.

photo of sweet potato fries
Sweet potato fries - photo by Angela Boyko on Flickr -
noncommercial use permitted with attribution / share alike

There are about 50 genera and more than 1000 species of this family, but only Ipomoea batatas is a crop plant (grown as an important root vegetable). The genus Ipomoea also includes several garden flowers called morning glories (the blossom of the sweet potato looks very much like a morning glory):

photo of sweet potato plant in flower
Sweet potato plant in bloom - photo by Danielm on Wikipedia - published under terms of the GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2 or later

The large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots of the sweet potato can be prepared in a variety of ways including baked, french-fried, and candied. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens.

photo of candied sweet potatoes
Candied sweet potatoes - photo courtesy Ontario recipe photos

The sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum). Sweet potatos are often called yams in parts of North America, although they are only very distantly related to the other plant that is widely known as yams (in the Dioscoreaceae family) which is native to Africa and Asia

 

Source:
The Sweet Potato Myth: Vegetarians in Paradise
Links:
American Food and Agricultural Symbols
American Food Holidays
Google

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