THE CYPHOMANDRA OR TREE TOMATO. 241 
in which melons were growing at the same time. The 
flowers do not need pollinating. The fruits set of them- 
selves, and are more or less seedless. 
CYPHOMANDRA. 
In 1886 Peter Henderson & Co. advertised seeds of 
the Tree Tomato of Jamaica. I procured seeds and 
grew the plants. The results of the effort, as published 
at the time,* were as follows: ‘‘The so-called Tree To- 
mato of Jamaica was reared from seeds last year, and 
two plants were carried over winter in the greenhouse. 
They were potted out in the spring. They grew well, 
attaining a height of 8 feet. They blossomed profusely 
during the fall, but did not set fruit. We shall carry 
them over another year. This curious plant is a native 
of tropical America, a member of the Solanum family, 
though not a tomato. It is Cyphomandra betacea. It 
has been widely distributed through the tropics of late 
years. The fruit more nearly resembles an eggplant 
fruit than a tomato. We have also grown it this year 
from seeds from Peru, which were sent us as_ the 
‘Chileno Tomato.’ Of course the plant is valueless 
in this climate.’’ 
I lost the plant until three years ago, when I secured 
seed again from southern California, and as this book 
goes to the printer two tree-iike plants growing together, 
7 feet high, and with a spread of 4 feet, bear their crop 
of 46 curious, egg-like fruits (shown two-thirds natural 
size in Fig. 88, page 742). The plants are three years 
old, and were once cut back to stumps. The plants— 
and we had others—bloomed profusely the second 
year from seed, but no amount of hand _ pollination 
would make the flowers set fruit. The present crop was 
not hand-pollinated, but the fruits are full of seeds. 
* Bulletin 31, Michigan Agric. College, ro (1887). 
