" S
■fi.
' I V
" î I
H ab . Chonos Archipelago, C. Barwin, Esq. Specimens very luxuriant, altogether resembliim well
grown cultivated plants, HiUs about Lima, J. Mao Bean, Esq.; several sub-varieties, marked as "“yellow
mottled, white, or purple P o ta to ” ; b u t none are so luxuriant as Mr. Darwin’s specimens. Ju an Fernandez'
Be rtero ; no flower;—Mr. Bertero remarks th a t it is possibly wüd, the roots being bitter.
Var. 2, macrantímm, foliobs miüti-4-S-jugis ovato-lanceolatis glabratis, corymbis glabriusculis, laciniis
calycinis subulatis, corollis ampbs H m e . diametro.
Ha b . Serras of Amancaes, Peru, Mathews, n. 847.
Var. 3, puberulum, fobolo terminab maximo, laterabbus pai-vis multoties minoribus, corymbis glabratis,
calycibus mmoribus glabriuscubs, coroUis ampbs.
H ab. P u ru d iu ca , Peru ; Mathews, n. 772.
Var. 4, mnltijugum, totum u t iu precedente, sed glabratum, fobolis æqualibus, laterabbus multijugis
lanceolatis basi cordatis petiolulatis.
H ab. cum priore, JIatAews, n. 771.
Var. G,polemmiifolmm, foliis incano-pubescentibus, fobobs plurimis parvis, calycis paulo minoris glabrati
lobis brevioribus acutis. °
H a b . Andes of Cliili and Mendoza, Dr, Gillies,
This and the four preceding are aU large-flowered states probably of the trae Sola,mm tuberosum, «pon the
pubescence, or form and number of the leaflets ot which no rebanee is to be placed. V so its ranre is from an
elevation near Lima in Peru, to the level o fth e sea at Chonos Archipelago, and inland to the Andes of “Mendoza in
Chüi.
Stir p s I I . S. Commersonii, Poir.
Var, 1, glabriusculum, fobolo terminab laterabbus paucijugis majore, floribus majuscubs, calycibus
pubescentibus.
H a b , Buenos Ayres, Tweedie; Valparaiso, Bridges, n. 401.
-Apparently the plant figured in Hort. Soe. Trans, vol, v., p. 249, t. 9,1 0 .1 1 , from Commerson’s own specimens.
Var. 2,pilosiusculum, foliis ampbs, fobobs multijugis æquabbus, floribus majuscubs, calycibus pubes-
ceutibus.
H ab. Mountains of Mendoza, B r . Gillies; “ cult, ad Buenos Ayres sub nom. N. tuberosi," Herb. Hooh.
Hardly different from the former variety. Apparently the ft tuberosum of Hort. Soe. Trans,, the experiments
upon which are there detailed.
Var. 3, glaniuloso-pmbeseens, fobobs parvis ovatis basi cordatis petiolulatis.
H a b . Foot of the mountains of Mendoza, B r . Gillies.
A smaller plant than either of the foregoing.
Var. 4, glabratum, fobobs paucijugis terminab majore, corymbo paucifloro, floribus minoribus an sp
distincta?
Buenos Ayres, in hedges, B r . GiUies.
F LO EA ANTAECTICA.
I think there can hardly be a doubt that the largest-flowered plant, whose vanet.es I have melnded under
Stfrps I., is the true cultivated Potato, a species, in its wild state, confined to the west o fth e Andes. Whether
f t Oommersonü, wldch chiefly differs in the size of the flowers, be really distmct or not, is another question Eanpng
as as it does from one side of the continent to the other, it may perhaps have some claims to be considered e ype
of the Potato, of whieh the large-flowered variety, now commonly cultivated with us, is confined, as jnst observed,
to the Pacific side of South America.
That both produce tubers, called “ Papas ” and “ Magiia,” is evident, for the specimen from which the tubers
were reared to the size of ordinaiy Potatos, in the Horticultural Society’s Gardens, is certamly referable o he
small-flowered Talparaiso plant, also eoUeeted by Bridges ; and the large-flowered species of Lima presents the
ordinary varieties of the well-known vegetable, as does the Chonos Archipelago and Mendoza one.
To show how mtle evidence is to be derived from the mere fact of the species producing tuberous roots, I may
mention that there is a tliiid plant, allied to both the former, and found over a gi-eat pai-t of extea-tropical
South America, hearing tubers, altogether similar to those of the two foregoing Solana. Th.s^ I refrain from
naming, though unable to ascertain that it is previously deseribed, hut it may readily be recogmzed by its great
general resemblance to ft Commersonii, from whieh it difl’ers in the small frmit, aud in the short cnpnMorm or
hemispherical calyx, whose lobes are short, broad, and rounded; while in other respects, as regards pubescence and
size and form ofthe leaflets, it is as variable as the two foimer. I have seen specimens from- Antuco {Kegnom.
Valdivia {Bridges, 719), Valparaiso {Cnmbu,, 553), and Uraguay {Tweedie), to the last of which the
added ou the ticket. “ This bears a considerable quantity of nasty soft watery Potatos at its root. caUed Papas
Amargas, in consequence of thefr bitter taste.”
With regard to Mr. Darwin’s specimens, in producing an abundance of tubers they only foUow the habit of
Cardamine hirsuta and many other plants, when inhabiting such a soil as a shingly beach. In the absence of a bitter
principle, evident in the wild tnhers of the “ MagUa ” of the di-ier parts of South America, the Chonos Archipelago
Potato may he compared with the Celery mentioned at p. 287, whose insipidity I attribute partly to the dampness
of the cbmate, and still more to the absence of the dii-eet rays of the sun.
Professor Henslow, who has investigated the subject of the native Potato with his usual care and skill, agrees
with me in considering this of Mr. Darwin's to be quite identical with the common cultivated Potato ; and he further
rem a rk s the differences between it and the “ Magha ” of Chili, without, however, pronouuciiig them specifically
distinct.
Thus, from the information I have been able to obtain, it appears very possible that the plant experimented upon
in the Horticultural Society’s Gai-dens, is even specifically distinct from the common cultivated Potato, for it is certainly
the small-flowered “ Magha ” of Chili, and not the large-blossomed “Aquinas” of Chiloe and the Chonos
Archipelago. It would he very mtei-estiiig to introduce tho tubers of Mi-. Darwin’s ft. tuheromm, aud the S. Commersonii
(the latter both from the east and west coasts), into our gardens ; along with, if possible.the short-calyxed
species, which is also stated hy Mi-. Tweedie to produce tubers.
Though I have spoken of these tliree Solana as all tiiherous-rooted, it is more than probable that they are not
always or iiecessni-ily so, and that the absence of those hybeniaciila does not indicate specific distinction. Mr.
Cruikshaiiks, who has studied one of the above species in its cultivated state in Chili (probably the S. Commersomi) ,
says of it, that the “ Papas AmariUas,” or Yellow Potato of Peru, which was grown in the Horticultm-al Society s
Gardens, is a variety ot the Solatium tuberosum, differing from all other known varieties of that species m its partiabty
for a particular diinale. Mr. Ci-iiikshaiiks also remarks, “ that it will not produce bulbs near the coast in Peru,
nor at Valp.araiso, hut only on the higher parts and in a very few spots ; but that further south m d u ll, as near
Valdivia, it is very productive.” The explanation seems to be, that tliis yebow Potato, whether a species or variety,
is dependent upmi a moist and cool climate for the formation of tubers, or, as the inhabitants of Peru express