-	All photographs of Kumara

The kumara or sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), is a crop plant whose large, starchy, sweet tasting tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. This plant is a herbaceous perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers. The edible tuberous root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose colour ranges from red, purple, brown and white. Its flesh ranges between white, yellow, orange, and purple.

Sweet potatoes are native to the tropical parts of the Americas, and were domesticated there at least 5000 years ago. They spread very early throughout this region, including the Caribbean. They were also known before western exploration in Polynesia. How exactly they arrived there is the subject of a fierce debate which involves archaeological, linguistic and genetic evidence.

Sweet potatoes are now cultivated throughout tropical and warm temperate regions wherever there is sufficient water to support their growth.