ABSTRACT
O f all the improving and ameliorating crops, none in my opinion, is equal to potatoes. George Washington, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1795
Origins of Potato Germplasm Potato is a New World crop that was unknown to the rest of the world until the 1500's. The most obvious domestication originated in the Andes mountains of South America, which, in a sense, were named for potato agriculture ("Andes" is derived from a Quechua word for field terraces). Closely related wild species grow in diverse places from Chile through Central America and into North America as far as Utah. Correll (1962) says little or no domestication occurred in Central and North America because other foods were readily available. However, in the American Southwest, ostensibly wild potatoes growing among Puebloan ruin sites of the Anasazi culture suggest that these ancient peoples used potato for food. It is certainly plausible that an empire sophisticated enough to trade with the Pacific coast and Mexico may have also cultivated, se lected and distributed the wild potatoes native to central Arizona and New Mexico.
