Alu / Potato
Solanum tuberosum
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh & more
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Solanum tuberosum
- Genus
- Solanum
- Family
- Solanaceae
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf surface
- HirsuterecordedCovered in coarse, stiff, bristly hairs.“The leaves have roughly four pairs of leaflets.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Alu itself; the rest are typical of the Solanaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Fruit type
- Underground tuberrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Characters marked “recorded” are for Alu itself; the rest are typical of the Solanaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Alu आलू
- Manipuri
- ꯑꯂꯨ Alu
- Marathi
- बटाटा Batata
- Tamil
- உருளை Urulai
- Kannada
- ಆಲು, ಆಲೂ Aaloo, ಆಲುಗಡ್ಡೆ Aalugadde, ಆಲುಗೆಡ್ಡೆ, ಆಲೂಗೆಡ್ಡೆ Aaloogedde, ಬಟಾಟ Bataata, ಬಟಾಟೆ Bataate
- Angami
- Kelu
About Alu
Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a species in the Solanaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and 9 other states.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten, stripped for fibre used in rope and matting and harvested for fodder. Parts of this plant are reported as poisonous — treat it as unsafe to eat and wash your hands after handling.
In culture
It is treated as sacred and appears in worship and carries a body of folklore around it.
Solanaceae
Nightshade/Tomato family
Alu belongs to the Solanaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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