The sweet potato plant or sweet potato vine has been cultivated for around 2,000 years for its sweet tasting tubers. It is said that Columbus brought the plant to Europe from the New World on his expedition (Missouri Botanical Garden). Though the variety of sweet potato plant that produces the edible tubers can be planted for its trailing vines, more recently, different variations have been cultivated specifically for their ornamental foliage. The ornamental sweet potato vine is not grown for edible consumption.It does produce sweet potato tubers, and though these won't cause any harm if eaten, they tend to be bland and bitter. It is also worth noting that it is ill-advised to eat any element of a sweet potato vine that has not been specifically cultivated for food purposes, without knowing what pesticides may have been used on it that could be harmful when ingested.