Potato Leaf vs. Regular Leaf

[Deborah]

I see references so often about this. Does leaf shape affect taste or what?

[Darren Abbey]

It's relatively rare among tomato varieties, so it is something of a novelty.

Aside from looking kinda cool, it can help you identify if your seed is the result of a cross in certain circumstances. The potato leaf trait is recessive, while most varieties are regular-leaf, so a potato-leaf variety crossed will be heterozygous and have regular leaves.

If you grow a favored potato-leaf heirloom along with other varieties, you'll be able to have confidence that your heirloom seeds have bred true.

All that... and I mostly just like the look of them.

[greentiger87]

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/tomato/2004111539004321.html


Take a look at this nice primer on gardenweb. I believe Carolyn wrote it.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Deborah

I see references so often about this. Does leaf shape affect taste or what?

No, a PL variety has nothing directly to do with taste but see the rest of this post.

It's just an alternative leaf form such as angora, rugose, variegated, for instance and Green just linked to a FAQ from Garden Web showing pictures of the various leaf forms.

And yes, I wrote the majoity of that FAQ but others helped as noted at the bottom of the FAQ. Before Tville opened many here posted at GW, and at one time I was the coordinator for doing the new FAQ's and I still think the ones on How To Prevent Cross POllination and Starting from Seed are some of the best ones around. And at the bottom of each of those FAQ's are listed the names of those who contributed.

THE two most common leaf forms are what we know as regular leaf and potato leaf, and there are many many hundreds of PL varieties so they aren't rare at all.

So why do so many tomato growers prefer them?

First, the foliage is more dense b'c the PL varieties have a more substantial leaf structure and many feel that the increased photosynthesis contributes to more energy production as ATP and GTP which helps with all phases of growth from the get go up to ripening of fruits.

Some like myself have noticed that PL varieties seem to be more tolerant of foliage diseases, some will agree with me while others won't.And I attribute it to a thicker leaf which helps prevent infection but have absolutely NO data on leaf thickness to back that up/

The BIG problem as I see it is that variety X that's RL can appear as a spontaneous single mutation for leaf form as a PL. And in that case the RL and PL variants are the same except for leaf form.

BUT, there are other ways that an RL can become PL and there is the problem as I see it.

There are several ways that seed DNA mutations can occur and they include looping out, repeats, inversions, and not to worry what they mean for the summary is that they can ALL involve MORE than one gene being affected along with the the leaf form gene.

So that means that not every original RL variety will be the same as the PL version b'c other genes having to do with taste, etc, can also be affected.

Take the case of Cherokee Purple where there are two PL versions, one called Cherokee Purple Potato Leaf found by Jere Gettle at Baker Creek and one called Spudakee attributed to Bill Malin.

Quite a few people have grown out all three in the same season so direct comparisons can be made and not all find those two PL's to be the same as the original RL nor the two PL versions to be the same.

Take KBX which is a PL version of Kellogg's Breakfast and KBX was found by Martha Hufford, the history is given for that variety at Tania's data base. IMO they are the same, so probably a single spontanoue mutation, and I think quite a few others feel the same way about KBX.

Take Indian Stripe which is RL and compare with what I offered in my last seed offer here which is Indian Stripe Potato Leaf. I'm in trouble here b'c I forgot who sent me the seeds for IS PL, but when I remember I'll add to this post.

I know IS well b'c I was the first to introduce it, again, the history is at Tania's website. And so far I think IS and IS Potato Leaf are the same except for leaf form.

It's also my opinion that since single spontaneoue mutations are MUCH rarer than the other mechanisms I mentioned about that most of the PL variants KNOWN to have come from original RL varieties are NOT the same.

I hope that helps.

[Deborah]

Thanks all !