It's true: yams and sweet potatoes are totally different plants and are not even closely related. In fact, these tasty starchy veggies are actually in two different plant families entirely! Yams are members of the genus Dioscorea and are in their own special family, Dioscoreaceae.
Are sweet potatoes and yams related?
That sweet, orange-colored root vegetable that you love so dearly is actually a sweetpotato. Yes, all so-called “yams” are in fact sweetpotatoes. Most people think that long, red-skinned sweetpotatoes are yams, but they really are just one of many varieties of sweetpotatoes.
Are sweet potatoes related to potatoes?
Different plant families Sweet and regular potatoes are both considered root vegetables but are only distantly related. Sweet potatoes are from the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae, and white potatoes are nightshades, or Solanaceae.
Are yams and sweet potatoes cousins?
Sweet Potatoes are commonly referred to as "yams". Native Americans were already growing sweet potatoes when Columbus arrived on America's shores in 1492. The sweet potato is not a potato, not even a distant cousin.
Why do people confuse yams and sweet potatoes?
The reason for the name mix-up, she explains, is because Louisiana sweet potato growers marketed their orange-fleshed as “yams” to distinguish from other states' produce in the 1930s—and it stuck. The skin of a yam (left) looks kind of like tree bark, while a sweet potato (right) is more reddish-brown.
