Within four hundred years of being introduced to Europe and the rest of the world from its native lands in South America, potatoes have become one of the most important staple foods on Earth.
Potatoes, grown in cooler climates or seasons around the world, are often thought of as roots because they usually grow in the ground. But technically they are starchy, enlarged modified stems called tubers, which grow on short branches called stolons from the lower parts of potato plants. By the way, though potato vegetable plants also flower and produce small, many-seeded berries like cherry tomatoes, all parts of the plant are poisonous if eaten. Except for the tubers.
But the question often comes up in both gardening and nutritional conversations, are potatoes a vegetable? The short and long answers are YES.