• neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      It is not a potato.

      Potatoes are a member of the Nightshade family.

      Sweet “Potatoes” are from the Morning Glory family.

      Completely separate genus. Even though they can be mostly cooked and prepared similarly, they are not related.

    • Victor@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Is it? In that case, potatoes are apples by French standards. (Because it’s in the name.)

        • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          They’re as closely related as a human and a lemur.

          The Spanish just got confused between the names batata and papa and called them similar names. Yams are even further away from both sweet potatoes and potatoes.

            • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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              3 days ago

              They’re fucking monocots, so way the hell removed (like onions). But none of these plants even share a family, order is the closest it gets.

              • ByteJunk@lemmy.world
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                2 days ago

                What do you mean, potatoes are closer to tomatoes than to sweet potatoes or onions?

                Botany is a scam.

                • nialv7@lemmy.world
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                  18 hours ago

                  Well you are looking at the wrong part of the plant. Potatoes are roots. Have a look at the fruits of the potato plant, they look very much like tomatoes.

                • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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                  2 days ago

                  I was super proud of myself last month, because I saw the leaves of a potato plant for the first time and my first thought was that it looked like tobacco. Turns out, tobacco’s also a nightshade!

                  Botany is fucking weird, but especially nightshades: staple carbs, deadly poisons, fucked up psychotropics, nicotine, capsaicin, a bunch of semisweet edible berries (from physalis to tomatoes to eggplants), and of course, peanuts.

        • Victor@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          I know… Potato in French is “pomme de terre”, “apple of the earth”.

          Today you learned.