The Gardeners Magazine p. 259-261 (May 1840)
ART. XII. On the Wild Potato (Solànum tuberòsum).
(Translated from Pöppig's Reise in Chile und Peru, for the Gardener's Magazine, by J. L.)

AMONG the cultivated vegetables in the Andes of Peru, none is more remarkable for its abundance and goodness than the potato. The question has often been asked in modern times, whether this plant is met with in a wild state in Peru and Chile; and, besides what has been said by the meritorious Lambert, Alexander Cruickshanks, whom I accompanied in 1827, made the strictest enquiry respecting it in Chile, and has written on the subject. I fully agree with him that the potato is a native of, and still grows wild in, Chile; and I am the more convinced of it, from my further search respecting the plant in the southern provinces, where Mr. Cruickshanks did not accompany me, as I found it quite as abundant there as in the northern parts. Humboldt is of opinion that the potato grows wild in Peru, from which opinion I am obliged to differ, at least so far as to state that, during my journey in the Andes, 1 found no tuber-bearing solanums on their declivities between 5° and 12° of south latitude. The potato in its wild state, however, is not an inhabitant of the mountains: but, in the northern part of Chile, where both Mr. Cruickshanks and myself made a journey along the coast, and carefully examined it, and also in the southern part, where I travelled alone, we found an immense quantity of wild potatoes at a height never exceeding that of 400 ft. above the level of the sea; more generally, however, in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea, and in the greatest luxuriance in rich loamy declivities, or in the chinks of the rocks exposed to the sea breezes, and only elevated a few fathoms above the level of the ocean. We never saw the wild potato farther from the sea than one or two leagues. It is easily distinguished from the cultivated potato, when it is once known that its blossoms are always white.

The potato, by right, ought to bear the name of a sea-shore plant, and its native country is undoubtedly Chile. It has been said that this plant is found cultivated on the hills that border the coast, and on the steep rocky declivities at Punta de Quintero, &c., but the soil there is either incapable of cultivation, or the land so steep that nobody could make any use of it. The wild potato is often, known in Chile by the name of Papa cimarono, because in its natural state its very small tubers are found to be bitter. They are often found growing in a wild state on steep places; and in 1827, when the fort at Valparaiso was pulled down, and part of a step rock gave way, and also in 1828 at the Cerro alegre, such an extraordinary quantity of those uneatable tubers rolled down into the streets, that many strangers who had never seen the wild potato could hardly believe the assertion. It cannot be affirmed that the wild potato is found in good soil, or in the drift hills of sand at Quintero; it, on the contrary, prefers the steep declivities and the small step-kind of formation on high projecting rocks. That the wild potato is very sensitive of a change of atmosphere, is evident from the circumstance, that it is found in abundance at the foot of Monte Manco, not far from Cocon in Chile; but not at all on its summit, a height of 500 ft., where, on the contrary, fields of the cultivated potato flourish well. The potato is not used to the same extent in Chile as it is in Peru, where the inhabitants of the Andes, without the least exaggeration, derive more than the half of their nourishment from its tubers. The Indians and Mestizos there make what they call Chupe, that is, small pieces of potato boiled in water, with the addition of pepper, and generally seasoned with bullock's fat; this dish they partake of two or three times a day, and it forms their chief food. Its great cheapness and satisfying quality reconcile the natives to its tastelessness and less nourishing property; and the Mestizos of the mild valleys would rather live on Chupe six days in the week, than be obliged to work hard two days together. The inhabitants of Punas are well skilled in preserving potatoes to keep to any length of time, which methods are not generally known in Europe. They give the name of Chûnu Chûno to the best-tasted preparation, which consists of potatoes left spread out in the open air for several nights, and exposed to the frost; during the day, however, they are put in a cold place, and protected from light and heat, so that they neither rot nor have a bad smell. They are then laid between layers of straw, and the small degree of moisture they contain pressed from them by treading and pressure, so that they at last form a mass of a whitish, wrinkled, light substance, and which, when boiled, forms a gelatinous liquid of a light grey colour and a not unpleasant taste. This preparation is brought from Sierra to the coast, and also to the warm forests towards the east, where it is in great repute. It keeps good for several years together in the climate of the Andes, and it even suits better the moist heat of the ancient forests than any other vegetable preparation. I found this provision very useful to me during my journey to Huallaga; and it did not a little excite the astonishment of the inhabitants of Brazil, as on the banks of the Marañon no kind of dried provision will keep one year.

The second preparation is called Morai, and only differs from the preceding in the potatoes being pared, and otherwise managed with greater nicety.

A third way of preserving the potato consists in cutting them in thin slices, and fastening them on a string. They dry well and very quickly in this manner in the atmosphere of the Andes. The potatoes of the Sierra are not much larger than a large kind of walnut, which we in Germany call Wälsche Nüsse, but they have a particularly good flavour, and, like those in Europe, consist of a great many varieties. In the forests of the warm regions of the valleys, which reach as far as Huanuco, the inhabitants cultivate a very excellent variety, probably a peculiar species, as it is very sensitive of cold, and produces tubers every three months. When it is once planted, it requires no more care, but continues to flourish. I found it common also in Cuchuro and Cassapi, and the flavour was very good. (Pöppig's Reise, vol. ii. p. 81.)