![]() ![]() Department of Agriculture, 2013. USDA Flickr Photostream. Large sweet potatoes are ploughed up for migrant workers to pick and sort according to size at Kirby Farms in Mechanicsville, VA. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Adams, wife of farmer near Morganza, Louisiana, preparing sweet potatoes for dinner. It is the ‘soft’ varieties that are often labeled as yams in the United States. When cooked, those in the ‘firm’ category remain firm, while ‘soft’ varieties become soft and moist. Sweet potato varieties are classified as either ‘firm’ or ‘soft’. The flesh also ranges in color from white to yellow, orange, or orange-red. The skin color can range from white to yellow, red, purple or brown. The many varieties of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are members of the morning glory family, Convolvulacea. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Image Gallery on Flickr. External link Asiedu, photographer, 2007. Cocoyam (left), yam (middle) and plantain at Cameroon market. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier. There are over 600 varieties of yams and 95% of these crops are grown in Africa. Native to Africa and Asia, yams vary in size from that of a small potato to a record 130 pounds (as of 1999). Yams are closely related to lilies and grasses. ![]() Sweet potato cultivar Ruddy (left) is sweet and moist and resists insects, unlike the leading U.S. Sweet Potatoes, often called ‘yams’, are a dicot (a plant having two embryonic seed leaves) and are from the Convolvulacea or morning glory family. Yams are a monocot (a plant having one embryonic seed leaf) and from the Dioscoreaceae or Yam family. Although yams and sweet potatoes are both angiosperms (flowering plants), they are not related botanically. ![]()
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