pinnate, as described by M. Dunal in Solatium Commersonii; but, as the plant advanced to flower, they lost
this character, and became unequally pinnate as in the cultivated potatoe. This plant, I have no doubt, is
identical with the S. Commersonii of Dunal, and confirms the opinion which I formerly advanced, that S. Commersonii
is the Solatium tuberosum in a wild state. After a careful comparison of this plant with different
varieties of Solanum tuberosum, I have not been able to discover a single character by which they could be
separated as distinct species, and the differences observable between them are of little botanical importance in
this tribe of vegetables, and are merely what would be expected to exist between the wild and cultivated state
of the same species. I have been induced to say thus much on this subject, having formerly ventured an
opinion respecting these two plants being of the same species.”—Journal o f Science and the Arts, Nos. 10 & 28.
In the foregoing I have, I trust, satisfactorily proved the existence of the potatoe in a wild state on both
sides of the South American continent. In further confirmation of the propriety of this opinion, which,
indeed, seems now to be generally admitted, 1 may mention that Mr. Dickson of Liverpool, a gentleman of
great intelligence, and an acute observer, who has recently returned from Buenos Ayres, where he has resided
many years, assured me that the wild potatoe, which he knew well, grows in the greatest abundance in the
vicinity of that city; and that in foliage and habit it resembled so much the cultivated sort, that no difference
was to be observed between them, unless that the roots of the former were small and not eatable. He stated,
also, that it was always regarded as a weed, and rooted out from the gardens and cultivated grounds
accordingly. The wild potatoe is evidently susceptible of great improvement; for, having obtained, from the
Horticultural Society, some cuttings of the plants brought by Mr. Caldcleugh, the tubers have now increased
in size and improved in quality.
Mr. Sabine, the indefatigable Secretary of the Horticultural Society, has lately given, in the “ 2d part of
the 5th volume of the Transactions of the Horticultural Society,” a paper on the potatoe, in which he endeavours
to prove that the Solanum Commersonii of Dunal is distinct from Solanum tuberosum. He has accompanied
his account with a figure of Commerson’s original specimen, from which Dunal formed his description.
Not having seen the specimen itself, I shall endeavour, from the figure, to reconcile the differences apparently
existing between these two plants. The figure clearly indicates, that the specimen has been the production
of a weak and stunted plant. This is shown by the imperfect development of its leaves, which exactly resemble
those of a seedling potatoe. Dunal and Mr. Sabine appear to lay great stress on the greater size of the
terminating leaflet; but this inequality of the terminal leaflet is common to all plants with folia impari-pinnata,
and more especially to the species of Solanum with pinnated leaves. After seeing the figure, I went and
examined a field of potatoes, and was fortunate in picking up several slender stems, agreeing in this point so
exactly, and in having the lower leaves almost simple, that on shewing them to the distinguished President of
the Linnasan Society, Sir James Edward Smith, he said there could not be the smallest doubt as to their identity
in these respects. The corolla of Solatium Commersonii is described by Dunal as quinquefid, and so it is
represented in the figure; but it is not at all probable, that two plants, agreeing in other respects, should yet
differ in this important point. The joint of the pedicels mentioned by Dunal, and also occurring in Solanum
tuberosum, is not noticed in the figure. I mention this circumstance merely to shew how little confidence is
to be placed in figures taken from dried specimens: for, were the form of the corolla and the disposition of the
lacinias to be relied on, they would remove this plant not only from the genus Solanum, but also from the
order to which it evidently belongs.
I have lately received from my friend Mr. Cowan, now residing at Lima, and to whom I have been so
often obliged on former occasions, a root of the celebrated golden potatoe, Patatas amirillos of the Spaniards,
which grows wild about 10 leagues from Lima. This, which is now growing with me, proves to be nothing
more than a variety of Solanum tuberosum.