5 ms·
don't they float?
by liveoneggs 9y ago
don't they float?
- cko 9y agoAre you suggesting sweet potatoes migrate?
- mkl 9y agoWell, coconuts do - they evolved for the purpose. It seems unlikely you can say the same for sweet potatoes, though.
- mythrwy 9y agoOnly one has to. Floating may not be a bad theory. Can they root after being in salt water for months though?
- jstanley 9y agoNot at all! They could be carried.
- BehindBlueEyes 9y agoWhat? A swallow carrying a sweet potato?
- liveoneggs 9y agoI was suggesting that, given enough tries (over thousands of years), a few might swim around the world and survive enough to grow. Possibly with some animal assistance.
- sitharus 9y agoThey do, but much like a potato the outer skin contains the germination layer. Exposure to salt water and sunlight slowly destroys this, and salt water dehydrates the inner flesh. They do not survive to germinate.
- scottie_m 9y agocould the potatoes plausibly be encased in something else, like a mixture of clay, wood, and other detritus from a mudslide? Maybe even a really light, but tough layer of volcanic ash and mud, and then the whole thing is washed out to sea? You only need one lucky tater to make the journey after all. If the mixture of debris is right, it could float and stick together even in water for quite a long time. Ash wood to keep it buoyant, clay as a binder, with the clay baking in the sun. Then it all goes to sea, and protects the spud for enough of the journey that it’s still viable?
- steve_adams_86 9y agoI suspect if the potato was encased in ash and mud, floating in average ocean surface temperatures (away from the poles), it would attempt to germinate. Tubers love trying to grow. If it did, it would break apart its case in no time. That's just a hunch I have. Maybe you're right, and the ash or something in a particular clay would inhibit germination. There are so many variables. It's fun to think about - I often wonder how some plants haven't ended up in certain places over the last millions of years.
- sitharus 9y agoA seed transported by bird is more likely in my (pretty uninformed) opinion than a tuber. As a relative of the bindweed it produces a small fruit that is eaten by birds.