Potatoes were introduced from the Andes to the Canary Islands around 1562 and from there to Europe, where they were first cultivated in Spain, then in Portugal and Italy. They were short-day-adapted Group Andigena potatoes, which were able to form tubers in the short days of autumn. The first illustrations and descriptions of these potatoes appeared over the period 1597–1601. From 1600, it proved possible to find regions in most countries of the world with seasons and climates to which potatoes could be adapted for cultivation, particularly between 44°N and 58°N as a lowland temperate summer crop and between 23°N and 34°N as a lowland subtropical winter crop. Potatoes were initially grown on small plots of land for home consumption (e.g., cottage gardens) but increasingly from 1750 in larger fields for a range of markets and end uses, as well as for a staple food. DNA extracted from herbarium specimens revealed that since about 1800, new potato introductions came from coastal Chile, and today their offspring predominate in potato cultivation. The period from 1800 onwards also saw the birth of modern potato breeding with implications today for the role of potatoes as a food security crop.