New Hampshire State Vegetable
White Potato
(Solanum tuberosum)
Adopted on June 04, 2013
Derry Village Elementary School in Derry was responsible for getting the white potato named as the state vegetable after they learned that in 1719, an Irish immigrant brought a sack of seed potatoes to the area, making New Hampshire the first state to cultivate the white potato.
Governor Hassan signed a bill on June 04, 2013 declaring the white potato as New Hampshire's official state vegetable. She did so surrounded by a group of 4th graders from Derry Village Elementary School. North America's first white potato was planted in their town in 1719.
New Hampshire State Vegetable: White Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial nightshade Solanum tuberosum L. The word "potato" may refer either to the plant itself or the edible tuber. In the Andes, where the species is indigenous, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes were introduced outside the Andes region approximately four centuries ago, and have since become an integral part of much of the world's food supply. It is the world's fourth-largest food crop, following maize, wheat, and rice
Scientific Name
Solanum, the first part of the scientific name for potato, is the genus. It comes from the classical Latin name for this large and varied group that includes bittersweet, nightshade, potato, and Jerusalem cherry. In fact, the genus name is often based on the original Latin or Greek name for the plant. It also may be derived from a number of other sources, including the name of a botanist or an anagram. The name of the genus is written in italics.
The specific epithet is "tuberosum." It should almost always be in lower case; occasionally, if it is a proper noun (for example, someone's name), it can have an initial capital letter (this is optional under the code). The specific epithet is usually an adjective that modifies the genus. In this case, tuberosum indicates that potato is a tuberous species in the genus Solanum. Like the genus, the species is always written in italics.
"Linnaeus" refers to the author of the scientific name for potato. In other words, Linnaeus was the first person to use the binomial Solanum tuberosum for the potato plant.
The White Potato the State Vegetable of New Hampshire
Going Local NH; March 1, 2013
When most people think about potatoes they think Maine or Idaho but what about New Hampshire's potatoes? I'm not talking about who's the most prosperous
potato producing state in the industry, but who has adopted the white potato as their state vegetable. New Hampshire has as of mid-February.
Why the potato, you may ask? Well a group of fourth graders from Derry Village School in Derry, New Hampshire were research the white potato when the
discover the place the white potato first grew in North America was Nutfield, New Hampshire now known as Londonderry, the birth place of General John
Stark. I'm not suggesting he or his family grew the first potato but it was first planted by an Irish-Scottish immigrants. The state of Virginia weighed
in on this, claiming that Virginia grew the first potato but they have since withdrawn their claim. The students requested the state house make the
white potato the state vegetable. After some debt about the potato and a consideration for broccoli as the state vegetable the students request was
approved.
So a little about white potatoes... White potatoes also sometime called Irish Potatoes. Potatoes are edible starchy tubers. They are in the night shade
family with bell peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. They were first brought to Europe after the invasion of South America. They were adopted into the
English and Irish diets. When the Irish were migrating to North America they took this dietary staple with them and began producing in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire no longer grows potatoes commercially but they can be purchased as part of the fall harvested at most local farmers markets. They can
also often be purchased at winter markets because they store well in root cellars or a cool dry location.
New Hampshire Act HB 535
HB 535 - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES 2013 SESSION
13-03790
8/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen
AN ACT establishing the white potato as the state vegetable.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; State Emblems; State Vegetable. Amend RSA 3 by inserting after section 26 the following new section:
3:27 State Vegetable. The white potato is hereby designated as the official state vegetable of New Hampshire.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
New Hampshire Law
The law designating the potato as the official New Hampshire state vegetable is found in the New Hampshire Statutes, Title 1, Chapter 3, Section 3:27.
TITLE I
THE STATE AND ITS GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 3
STATE EMBLEMS, FLAG, ETC.
Section 3:27
3:27 State Vegetable. - The white potato is hereby designated as the official state vegetable of New Hampshire.
Source. 2013, 54:1, eff. Aug. 3, 2013.
Taxonomic Hierarchy: Potato
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species: S. tuberosum
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