I am looking for two varieties of sweet potatoes which were grown in southeastern Kentucky and northern Tennessee when I was a lad.
The first had a red skin and white flesh, and varied in size from maybe one inch diameter and five inches long, to more than a foot long and two inches diameter or more. I don't recall ever hearing a name for this variety. The second variety had white skin and flesh, and was locally known as a poplar root because of it's resemblence to the root of the Tulip Poplar.
Both of these sweet potatoes were good for baking, having good flavor and baking up dry, not "mooshy" as we called some of the yellow and orange fleshed potatoes.
If anyone is growing these varieties or knows who is growing them, I'd sure appreciate hearing from them. Thanks.
Jim
Search for heirloom sweet potatoes.
Poplar Root is available from Sandhill preservation http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/pages/sweetpotato_catalog.html. Too late for this year. There are several that match your description of the red skin white fleshed variety. The one that I have grown is Violetta also from Sandhill. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/78477/ http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/78472/
Thank you Farmerdill.
I shall check out Sandhill Preservation.