Mark,
If you don't get it when it comes to leaf shapes for different varieties then it says that you personally aren't interested. Which is fine, as I say, to each their own.
And you have seen and I assume read, the many threads about this as well as the FAQ at GW.
Some folks, like myself just love to grow PL ( potato leaf) varieties.
Why? For one thing most varieties are not PL, they are RL ( regular leaf), so that makes them different from the get go. I get all excited, I kid you not, when I first grow out a new variety that someone has sent me and it turns out to be PL.
In addition to just liking PL's b'c they are PL's, I find that they often, but not always, have a heavier foliage cover than do RL varieties, and thus when foliage diseases do hit, there's always a bit more backup foliage on the plant.
In addition, I find that most PL vareties I grow are more tolerant of the four common foliage diseases. So that at the end of the season whereas most of my plants are down and out, the PL ones are still green and thriving.
Not everyone has had that same tolerance to foliage diseases that I've seen, but it's another reason why I like them.
I've speculated that the leaf epidermis with PL's might be thicker than with RL's but have no data or proof at all, just visible observation after maybe 20 years of growing PL and RL varieties.
So that's PL and RL varieties.
Next is Rugose foliage, where the leaves are pleated and puckered and usually a deep green, and not that many varieties do have rugose foliage. Most of them are dwarfs or determinates, depending on how one defines those two plant habits.
And again, it's strictly a personal preference in growing them, but they too seem to be more tolerant of foliage diseases, in my experience.
Next would be angora foliage where the leaves are fuzzy and have a gray/green cast to them. Again, not that many varieties have angora foliage and I find that the fruits of most of them are not that tasty and also have said that I consider them to be novelty types in that regard. Most folks just getting into growing heirloom try one or two just b'c they are a novelty and they want to see what that foliage looks like.
But to see the sun glinting off that angora foliage is a treat and my favorite angora variety is Velvet Red, aka Angora Super Sweet.
Pure wonderful curiousity in what leaf types one grows, which I'm glad to see.
And the last of the five types you referred to but didn't list would be variegated foliage, which in terms of varieties that can be grown from seed, b'c most reqire vegetative propagation, are the newest kids on the block.
And the one I know best and listed in the SSE YEarbook and also made seeds available to folks at GW last year is called simply Variegated and by some in Europe as Variegata.
SSE sold plants last year and this year is also selling seeds. And by now I'm sure that seeds have been widely distributed so that some commercial places are also offering seeds for Variegated, I mean other than SSE.
The fruits are surprisingly good tasting, not great, but good, for again, what I call a novelty type, and the stems and partially ripe fruits also show variegation as well, but that variegation lessens in high heat. The partially ripe fruits show wedges of green near the stem end which disappears as the fruits ripen full red.
So the five you referred to are:
Regular Leaf (RL), with many variations
Potato Leaf (PL). with some variations
Rugose
Angora
Variegated
And the big deal you refer to is simply the personal choices of those who prefer to grow varieties with those leaf traits for whatever reason.
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Carolyn
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