Conservation of relict potato Solanum tuberosum cultivars within Maori communities in New Zealand

Abstract

It is generally accepted by scholars that potatoes were first introduced to New Zealand in the late 18th century by Captain James Cook and the French explorer, Marion du Fresne. Further introductions of potatoes from a variety of sources including possible direct introductions from South America, followed into the 19th century. Maori were quick to recognize the advantages that these new introductions had over their traditional food crops including kumara (sweet potato) Ipomoea batatas and Taro Colocasia esculentum both of which they introduced from east Polynesia some 800-100 years previously. Potatoes soon became a staple item in the Maori diet and an important trade commodity and by the mid-19th century they were growing thousands of hectares of potatoes for that purpose. The various cultivars that were introduced were given Maori names and many of these early types are still grown by Maori, having been passed down through families for many generations. With their deep set eyes, often knobbly irregular shape, "open" leaves and colourful tubers these "Maori Potatoes" are quite distinctive in appearance from modern potatoes and some retain many of the features of Solanum tuberosum subsp. andigena types. This paper discusses the adoption of the potato by Maori, the effects it had on Maori society and the perpetuation of the early cultivars within Maori families and communities. This examination of an introduced crop plant and its intersection with an indigenous people is essentially an ethnobotanical study which in addition to its botanical and anthropological foci includes elements of Matauranga Maori (traditional Maori knowledge) history, geography and horticulture. The preservation of these old potato cultivars by generations of Maori people has made a valuable contribution to conservation of biological diversity.