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Potato
Habit (mature) · Cultivar 'Fresco' · Rasbak / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Limited coverage
Potato
Solanum tuberosum
The world’s fourth most important food staple — a cool-season nightshade grown as an annual for the starchy tubers that swell underground on stolons. Above ground it makes a bushy, knee-high mound of compound pinnate leaves topped, briefly, by white-to-purple star-shaped flowers with a bright yellow anther cone. The tubers are the only part eaten: leaves, stems, fruit, and any green-skinned tuber carry the toxic glycoalkaloid solanine.
Review: Source-backed
Climate fit: moderate (56/100)
Edible
Light
Full sun
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
12-18" tall · 12" apart
Hardy in zones
2a-11b
brutally cold to nearly frost-free winters
Summer heat range
Cool-Mild
cool to mild summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.
Native in Illinois
No
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Cold hardiness
Now
Zone 6b
USDA
Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer
Well-suited
2050
Zone 7b
Plotwright
Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)
Well-suited
In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Potato (Solanum tuberosum). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/potato
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
Success tips
Designer notes
Wikimedia Commons
Photo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Backs 1 field
Image
Community photos
The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.
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