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Chinese potato facts for kids

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Chinese potato
Koorka 0124.jpg
Plectranthus rotundifolius DSCN0612.jpg
Scientific classification
Genus:
Coleus
Species:
rotundifolius
Synonyms
  • Calchas parviflorus (Benth.) P.V.Heath
  • Coleus dysentericus Baker
  • Coleus pallidiflorus A.Chev.
  • Coleus parviflorus Benth.
  • Coleus rehmannii Briq.
  • Coleus rotundifolius var. nigra A.Chev.
  • Coleus rugosus Benth.
  • Coleus salagensis Gürke
  • Coleus ternatus (Sims) A.Chev.
  • Coleus tuberosus (Blume) Benth.
  • Germanea rotundifolia Poir.
  • Majana tuberosa (Blume) Kuntze
  • Nepeta madagascariensis Lam.
  • Plectranthus coppinii Heckel
  • Plectranthus ternatus Sims
  • Plectranthus rotundifolius (Poir.) Spreng.
  • Plectranthus tuberosus Blume
  • Solenostemon rotundifolius (Poir.) J.K.Morton
Plectranthus rotundifolius by kadavoor
Flowers
Plectranthus rotundifolius
Tubers, with a ruler for scale

Coleus rotundifolius, synonyms Plectranthus rotundifolius and Solenostemon rotundifolius, commonly known as native or country potato in Africa and called Chinese potato in India, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the mint family (Lamiaceae) native to tropical Africa. It is cultivated for its edible tubers primarily in West Africa, as well as more recently in parts of Asia, especially India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

C. rotundifolius is closely related to the coleus plants widely cultivated as ornamentals and is now again placed in the genus Coleus, after being placed in the defunct genus Solenostemon and in Plectranthus.

Use and cultivation

The egg-shaped tubers of the native potato appear very similar to the unrelated true potato, though they are smaller than modern commercial varieties. They are typically boiled, but may also be roasted, baked, or fried. Their flavor is bland, but sweeter than Coleus esculentus.

Native potato is overwhelmingly a subsistence crop, though flour milling is reported in Burkina Faso.

C. rotundifolius is one of three Coleus species native to Africa grown for their edible tubers and using the same vernacular names. The others, C. esculentus and C. edulis, native to southern Africa and Ethiopia, respectively, have not spread beyond Africa. Its cultivation has been largely displaced by the spread of cassava, which was introduced by the Portuguese to Africa from South America about 500 years ago.

Names

In Africa, Coleus rotundifolius is also known as the Hausa potato or Sudan potato, in addition to the names native potato and country potato.

Vernacular names of Coleus rotundifolius
Region Language Term
International
and
Europe
English Chinese, country, Coleus, Frafra, Hausa, native, Sudan, or Zulu potato
French pomme de terre de Madagascar, du Soudan ou d'Afrique
coléus à tubercules
Africa
Chad ngaboyo
Dioula, Minianka fabirama, fabourama
Frafra (Gurenne) pesa, pessa
Hausa tumuku
Mandinka,
Bambara
fa-birama. fabirama (fabourama)
usu ni gé (oussou-ni-gué)
usu ni fin (oussou-ni-fing)
Mossi (Mooré) peinssa
South Asia
Kannada ಸಂಬ್ರಾಣಿ saṃbrāni (sambrani)
Konkani कूक kūka (kooka)

And

झाड़े कणगा

( Jhade Kanaga)

Malayalam കൂർക്ക kūrkka (koorka, koorkka)
Sinhala ඉන්නල innala
Tamil சிறு கிழங்கு ciṟu kiḻaṅku (siru kizhangu)
South East
Asia
Thai มันขี้หนู, man khee nuu
Malay kembili, kemili
ubi keling (Kelantan dialect), ubi kemili
kentang jawa
kentang hitam, kentang kleci (both in Indonesian standard)
Javanese ꦏꦼꦤ꧀ꦛꦁꦲꦶ​ꦉꦁ (kenthang ireng)
ꦏꦼꦤ꧀ꦛꦁꦏ꧀ꦊꦕꦶ (kenthang kleci)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Plectranthus rotundifolius para niños

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Chinese potato Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.