Louisiana State Vegetable

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. 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): 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. 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

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