The sweet potato or sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are a root vegetable. The young shoots and leaves are sometimes eaten as greens. The sweet potato is distantly related to the common potato (Solanum tuberosum), both being in the order Solanales. The sweet potato, especially the orange variety, is often called a "yam" in parts of North America, but it is entirely unrelated to true yams. Cultivars of the sweet potato have been bred to bear tubers with flesh and skin of many colors, but white, yellow, and orange flesh is common with a darker skin.