Cultivar · Potato cultivar
Maris Peer
Maris Peer is a British second-early potato bred at the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge, a firm, waxy variety used for new potatoes, salads, and boiling.
Record
Cultivar / variety- Variety of
- Potato
- Botanical taxon
- Solanum tuberosum
- Type
- Cultivar
- Breeding method
- Cross-breeding
- Origin
- Cambridge, England (Plant Breeding Institute), United Kingdom
- Breeder / institution
- Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge
- Registry status
- Listed · United Kingdom · as of 2026-07-12
- Registries
- National List of Agricultural and Vegetable Crop Species (Great Britain) · United Kingdom · Listed · as of 2026-07-12Listing permits marketing of seed and is not a recommendation; it is date-specific. Confirm against the current National List.
- Adaptation
- Grown as a cool-season crop like potato generally; its earlier maturity suits second-early lifting and small "new potato" production. Sensitive to frost and to heat during tuber bulking. Grown on the loose, well-drained soils preferred by potato generally; no unusual soil requirement is documented here.
- Intended use
- Table (new potatoes, salads, boiling)
Registry listing or variety protection is jurisdiction- and date-specific and does not by itself indicate current commercial availability, universal cultivation approval, patent status, or a recommendation.
Maris Peer is a second-early potato bred at the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge, England. Like other "Maris" varieties from the Institute, its name derives from Maris Lane near the breeding station. It is a firm, waxy variety commonly grown for the fresh market.
The cream-fleshed tubers hold their shape well when cooked, which suits them to small "new potato" harvests, salads, and boiling rather than to mashing or roasting. It is admitted to the national variety list in Great Britain, which permits the marketing of its seed.
Background and identity
Maris Peer was produced by cross-breeding at the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge. It is classed as a second-early, firm, waxy variety and is widely used for the fresh market, including small "new potato" harvests.
- Flesh colour
- Cream
- Cooking character
- Firm and waxy; holds shape when boiled
- Typical culinary uses
- New potatoes, salads, boiling
Registry status and cultivation
Maris Peer is admitted to the national variety list in Great Britain. Listing permits the marketing of seed rather than constituting a recommendation, and it is date-specific; it should be confirmed against the current National List. As a second-early it is grown as a cool-season crop like potato generally, and its cooking and agronomic behaviour vary with region, season, and storage.
Official variety registration
Entries recorded for this denomination in official variety registers. Registration is a legal fact about marketing or ownership, separate from where the variety is grown or whether seed is available.
| Register | Status | Species as published | Register reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| IrelandNational list entry — agricultural speciesPermission to market | Registered | Solanum tuberosum L. | NLI/AGR/IE/SOLAN_TUB/238 |
| United KingdomNational list entryPermission to market | Awarded GB and NI variety listings | SOLANUM TUBEROSUM L. | 4/170 |
Entries that are no longer current
Each register decides separately, so these are grouped by instrument and jurisdiction and never combined into one timeline.
PortugalNational list entry
- Observed 2026-08-27Surrendereddate not published by the sourceThe EU Plant Variety Portal — national list entry records this entry as “Surrendered” and publishes no date for the change.
- These registers publish a grant or listing date but no date for an entry ceasing to be current, so when this ended is not established here.
History records what an official source published at a point in time. Where the source states the date a change took effect, that date is shown; where it does not, only the date AgricultureID observed the change is shown, and it is labelled as such.
A variety registration permits marketing; a plant variety protection right is ownership. They are granted by different bodies under different law and are never added together.
Entries are matched to this cultivar by identical denomination and by matching botanical species. Registers do not publish a global variety identifier, so a same-name entry in the same species could in principle be a distinct variety.
Registration is jurisdiction-specific, is granted under a particular legal instrument, and changes. A variety absent from a register may still be grown; confirm the current position with the responsible authority before acting on it. How registration is recorded.
Relationships
Evidence-backed connections in the knowledge graph.
Adapted to climate
Adapted to soil
Scope & limitations
Geographic scope: Best documented in the United Kingdom; also grown elsewhere. Culinary and agronomic behaviour is region- and season-specific.
Climate context: Temperate cool-season crop; second-early maturity.
- Cooking and agronomic behaviour is region- and season-specific and varies with storage.
- Registry/listing status is jurisdiction- and date-specific; confirm against the current Great Britain National List.
- The exact year of release is reported inconsistently in the literature and is therefore not stated.
Sources
This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.
- [1]AHDB — Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (opens in a new tab)High
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)
Cited for: UK potato variety characteristics and background
- Type:
- Government agency
- Jurisdiction:
- United Kingdom
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12
- [2]GRIN-Global / National Plant Germplasm System (opens in a new tab)Authoritative
USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Cited for: Solanum tuberosum classification and germplasm context
- Type:
- Official registry
- Jurisdiction:
- United States / Global
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12
- Moderate
Cited for: General horticultural reference on the variety (secondary)
- Type:
- Reference database
- Jurisdiction:
- United Kingdom
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12