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tuber
plant anatomy
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External Websites
- BMC - Genes and Nutrition - Biomarkers of tuber intake
- National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Roots and Tuber Crops as Functional Foods: A Review on Phytochemical Constituents and Their Potential Health Benefits
- Nature - Genome sequence and analysis of the tuber crop potato
- University of Arkansas System - Division of Agriculture Research and Extension - Tubers
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln - Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources - CropWatch - Early Tuber Growth
- Related Topics:
- potato
- yam
- jícama
- Jerusalem artichoke
- earthnut
tuber, specialized storage stem of certain seed plants. Tubers are usually short and thickened and typically grow below the soil. Largely composed of starch-storing parenchyma tissue, they constitute the resting stage of various plants and enable overwintering in many species. As modified stems, most tubers bear minute scale leaves, each with a bud that has the potential for developing into a new plant. The potato is a typical tuber, as is the Jerusalem artichoke.
The term is also used imprecisely but widely for fleshy roots, corms, or rhizomes of other plants that resemble tubers—e.g., the “tuber” (actually a tuberous root) of a dahlia.