Alturas is a russet

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

variety released in 2002 by the

USDA-ARS The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ex ...

and the

Agricultural Experiment Station An agricultural experiment station (AES) or agricultural research station (ARS) is a scientific research center that investigates difficulties and potential improvements to food production and agribusiness. Experiment station scientists work with f ...

s of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington and it is under plant variety protection.R. G. Novy, R.G.; Corsini, D. L.; Love, S. L.; Pavek, J.J.; Mosley, A. R.; James, S.R.; Hane, D.C.; Shock, C. C.; Rykbost, K. A.; Brown, C.R.; Thornton, R.E. (2003) “Alturas: A Multi-Purpose, Russet Potato Cultivar with High Yield and Tuber Specific Gravity.” “American Journal of Potato Research” 80:295–301 It is a processing potato that has cold-sweetening resistance, so it can be processed directly out of storage into French fries and other frozen potato products.

Botanical features

Tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...

s are lightly russeted with brown skin * Tubers are oval to oblong * Tuber sprouts are green * Flesh is white and has a shallow eyes * Has a large, open

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

and is a late-maturing variety * Plant stems are green with some anthocyanin pigmentation * Has white flowers and yellow anthers * Range of one to eight inflorescences per plant

Agricultural features

* Higher yields and higher

specific gravity Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water at its densest ...

than

Russet Burbank Russet Burbank is a potato cultivar with dark brown skin and few eyes that is the most widely grown potato in North America. A russet type, its flesh is white, dry, and mealy, and it is good for baking, mashing, and french fries (chips). It i ...

* Resistant to Verticiliium wilt and early blight * Superior to the more common Russet Burbank in that it is more resistant to Corky ringspot,

late blight ''Phytophthora infestans'' is an oomycete or water mold, a fungus-like microorganism that causes the serious potato and tomato disease known as late blight or potato blight. Early blight, caused by ''Alternaria solani'', is also often called " ...

, tuber net necrosis (caused by

Potato leafroll virus Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) is a member of the genus '' Polerovirus'' and family ''Solemoviridae''. The phloem limited positive sense RNA virus infects potatoes and other members of the family Solanaceae. PLRV was first described by Quanjer ' ...

Fusarium ''Fusarium'' is a large genus of filamentous fungi, part of a group often referred to as hyphomycetes, widely distributed in soil and associated with plants. Most species are harmless saprobes, and are relatively abundant members of the soil mi ...

dry rot, and

common scab Common scab is a plant disease of root and tuber crops caused by a small number of '' Streptomyces'' species, specifically '' S. scabies'', '' S. acidiscabies'', '' S. turgidiscabies'' and others. Common scab mainly affects potato ...

* Susceptible to

Potato virus X Potato virus X (PVX) is a plant pathogenic virus of the family ''Alphaflexiviridae'' and the order '' Tymovirales''. PVX is found mainly in potatoes and is only transmitted mechanically. There are no insect or fungal vectors for this virus. This ...

Potato virus Y Potato virus Y (PVY) is a plant pathogenic virus of the family ''Potyviridae'', and one of the most important plant viruses affecting potato production. PVY infection of potato plants results in a variety of symptoms depending on the viral str ...

, bacterial soft rot,

root-knot nematode Root-knot nematodes are plant-parasitic nematodes from the genus ''Meloidogyne''. They exist in soil in areas with hot climates or short winters. About 2000 plants worldwide are susceptible to infection by root-knot nematodes and they cause appr ...

, and bacterial ring rot

References

Potato cultivars {{Potato-stub