Potatoes are native to various parts of South America, and the Incas were the first to cultivate the nutritious vegetable in about 200 BC. They were not introduced to other locales until a much later date and were eyed suspiciously by potential consumers who recognized their similarities to the poisonous nightshades. Indeed, Sir Walter Raleigh who was the first to introduce the potato to Ireland, reportedly made the mistake of eating the berries rather than the tuber. His gardener is credited with discovering their true value while in the process of removing the plants by Raleigh's command. The potato's rise in popularity in England was similarly slow to begin. The Puritans opposed their cultivation, primarily because they could find no mention of the potato in the Bible, and it was not until the middle of the Eighteenth Century that potatoes became common in Western Europe as a vegetable. Today, potatoes are grown in all 50 of the United States, in about 125 different countries, and have even been grown in outer space.