Umatilla Russet (, ) is a moderately late maturing variety of

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 ...

especially suitable for frozen

french fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

processing. It was jointly released by the Agricultural Experiment Station of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1998. 'Umatilla Russet' has been equal to or better 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 potato, russet type, its flesh is white, dry, and mealy, and it is good for Baked potato, baking, Mashed potatoe ...

in fry color in Oregon and regional trials. The potato was named by the state of Oregon after the

Umatilla tribe The Umatilla are a Sahaptin language, Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribe who traditionally inhabited the Columbia Plateau region of the northwestern United States, along the Umatilla River, Umatilla and Columbia River, Columbia rivers."Umati ...

, from which the city of Umatilla also takes its name.

Characteristics

Botanical

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 growing ...

skin is tan color and russety-like * Tubers are long with a tendency for tapered apical ends * Flesh is slightly creamy * Leaves are dark green, medium pubescence * Few (up to 7) flowers per plant * Flowers are light purple with a yellow-orange center cone

Agricultural

* Less susceptible to

Verticillium wilt Verticillium wilt is a wilt disease affecting over 350 species of eudicot plants. It is caused by six species of ''Verticillium'' fungi: ''V. dahliae'', ''V. albo-atrum'', ''V. longisporum'', ''V. nubilum'', ''V. theobromae'' and ''V. tricorpu ...

* Less susceptible to net necrosis * Resistant 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 v ...

(PVX) * Expresses foliar symptoms of

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 stra ...

(PVY) * Less susceptible to tuber infection and decay caused by

Phytophthora infestans ''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 "pot ...

* More susceptible to blackspot and shutter bruise * Less susceptible to hollow heart, brown center, growth cracks and sugar ends

References

{{Potato cultivars Potato cultivars