Editing Sweet potato (section)

==Description==
[[File:Genasu gadde (Kannada ಗೆಣಸು ಗಡ್ಡೆ) (49108875711).jpg|thumb|left|The flowers, buds, and leaves of the sweet potato, which resemble those of the [[morning glory]]]]
[[File:Sweet potato seeds.jpg|thumb|Seeds|left]]
The plant is a [[herbaceous plant|herbaceous]] [[perennial plant|perennial]] [[vine]], bearing alternate triangle-shaped or palmately lobed [[Leaf|leaves]] and medium-sized [[sympetalous]] [[flower]]s. The stems are usually crawling on the ground and form [[adventitious roots]] at the [[plant stem|nodes]]. The leaves are screwed along the stems. The [[leaf stalk]] is {{Convert|5 to 20|in|cm|abbr=off|order=flip}} long. The leaf blades are very variable, {{Convert|5 to 13|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, the shape is heart-, kidney- to egg-shaped, rounded or triangular and spear-shaped, the edge can be entire, toothed or often three to seven times lobed, cut or divided. Most of the leaf surfaces are bare, rarely hairy, and the tip is rounded to pointed. The leaves are mostly green in color, but the accumulation of [[anthocyanins]], especially along the leaf veins, can make them purple. Depending on the variety, the total length of a stem can be between {{Convert|0.5 and 4|m|ft|abbr=off|frac=2}}. Some cultivars also form [[Shoot (botany)|shoot]]s up to {{Convert|16|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in length. However, these do not form underground storage organs.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The [[hermaphrodite]], five-fold and short-stalked flowers are single or few in stalked, zymous inflorescences that arise from the leaf axils and stand upright. It produces flowers when the [[Photoperiodism|day is short]]. The small [[sepal]]s are elongated and tapering to a point and spiky and (rarely only 7) {{Convert|10 to 15|mm|frac=8}} long, usually finely haired or [[ciliate]]. The inner three are a little longer. The {{Convert|4 to 7|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, overgrown and funnel-shaped, folded crown, with a shorter hem, can be lavender to purple-lavender in color, the throat is usually darker in color, but white [[crown (botany)|crowns]] can also appear. The enclosed stamens are of unequal length with glandular filaments. The two-chamber ovary is upper constant with a relatively short stylus.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} Seeds are only produced from cross-pollination.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Pollinating Sweet Potatoes|url=https://homeguides.sfgate.com/pollinating-sweet-potatoes-74929.html|access-date=15 October 2021|department=Home Guides|website=[[SF Gate]]|date=11 May 2013|language=en|archive-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415153410/https://homeguides.sfgate.com/pollinating-sweet-potatoes-74929.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The flowers open before sunrise and stay open for a few hours. They close again in the morning and begin to wither. The edible [[tuberous]] root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose color ranges between yellow, orange, red, brown, purple, and beige. Its flesh ranges from beige through white, red, pink, violet, yellow, orange, and purple. Sweet potato [[cultivar]]s with white or pale yellow flesh are less sweet and moist than those with red, pink or orange flesh.<ref name="loeb2009" />