LYCOPERSICUM 



1337. The Currant Tomato.— 

 Lycopersicum pimpinellifolium, 



for their fruits. Fls. small, yellow, 

 nearly rotate wben in full bloom, in short 

 superaxillary racemes; stamens 5, connate 

 about the single style ; ovary 2-loculed in 

 the non-ameliorated forms, becoming a 

 fleshy, many-seeded berry: foliage irregu- 

 larly or interruptedly pinnate, rank-smell- 

 ing: plant usually pubescent, straggling. 

 In native conditions. Tomatoes are probably perennial, 

 hut in domestication they are treated as if annual. Ten- 

 der to frost. See Tomato. 



esculSntum, Mill. Common Tomato. Fig. 1334. Plant 

 spreading, with grayish green, mostly conduplicate 

 ("curled") leaves and slender, ascending shoots : Ivs. 

 pinnate, with small, nearly entire leaflets interposed, the 

 main leaflets notched or even lobed towards the base: 

 fls. in a short raceme of 4-6: fr. medium to small, flat- 

 tened endwise and furrowed on the sides. — In cultiva- 

 tion for more than ,300 years. Two hundred years ago 

 red and yellow varieties were known. The great evolu- 

 tion of the Tomato did not take place until this century, 

 giving rise to the garden race. 



Var.vulgire, Bailey. Fig. 1336, No. 2. This is the com- 

 mon garden Tomato of North America, distinguished 

 by very heavy growth, greener foliage, much larger 

 and plane Ivs., the comparative absence of stiflfish as- 

 cending shoots (in the mature plant), few fls., and 

 larger, "smoother" (i. e., not furrowed) fr. , which has 

 numerous locules or cells. — There is every reason for 

 believing that the original Tomato had a 2-loculed 

 (2-celled) fruit, but the course of amelioration has mul- 

 tiplied the locules; it has also modified the foliage and 

 the stature of the plant (see "Survival of the Unlike," 

 Essays 4 and 30). 



Var. cerasif6rme, Hort. (L. cerasifSrme, Dunal). 

 Cherry Tomato. Still grown for its little globular frts 



LYOOPODIUM 



(in red and yellow), which are often 2-loculed : 

 plant less large and dense-foliaged, the Ivs. 

 smaller, grayer: growth more erect. -Probably 

 a very close approach to the wild plant. Fruits 

 used for pickles and conserves. 



Var. pyriiflrme, Hort. {L. pi/rifdrme, Dunal). 

 Pear and Piam Tomato. Differs from the last 

 only in having pear-shaped or oblong fruits.— 

 Probably occurs wild in very nearly the form seen 

 in old gardens. 



Var. vilidum, Bailey. Upright Tomato. Fig. 

 1335. A remarkable cultural form, of low, stiff, 

 erect growth, and small, condensed, curled Ivs.— 

 Originated as a chance seedling in Prance about 

 50 years ago. Looks like a potato plant. 



Var.grandiSfilium, Bailey. Large-leaf Tomato. 

 Lvs. very large, plane, the Ifts. few (about 2 

 pairs) and large, with margins entire or very 

 nearly so, and secondary Ifts. usually none. — Of seed- 

 ling origin about 30 years ago. The Mikado and Potato 

 Leaf are the leading varieties at present. In very 

 young plants, the leaves are usually entire. This race 

 has produced crosses of commercial value with var. viil- 

 (/(ire. In Fig. ]33(), No. 2 is a leaf of var. vulgare. No. I 

 is var. g rail ill folium, and No. 3 is a leaf of a band-made 

 cross between the two. 



pimpinellifdlium, Dunal {L. racemigerum and racemi- 

 f6rme, Lange. i<oli\inim racejmVWranijVilm., not Dunal). 

 Currant Tomato. Fig. 1337. Plant weaker, very dif- 

 fuse and twiggy, scarcely pubescent : Ivs. with small, 

 ovate, nearly entire Ifts., and very small secondary Ifts.: 

 racemes elongating, distichous, bearing 10-40 small, 

 currant-like, red berries. S. Amer.— Grown as a 

 curiosity and for ornament. The plant makes an excel- 

 lent summer cover for brush or rubbish piles. The fruits 

 are edible, but are too small for domestic use. How- 

 ever, it has been introduced as a garden vegetable under 

 the name of German Raisin Tomato. It hybridizes with 

 L. eseulentmn (see Fig. 1338). 



The other species of Lj'copersicum are unknown in 

 cult. Some of them are very like aboriginal forms of 

 £i. escnleiiliim, and it is doubtful whether they are suf- 

 ficiently distinct to be worth keeping as species. Pic- 

 tures of other Lycopersicums will be found in Essay 4, 

 "Survival of the Unlike." l. jj. B. 



LYCOPODIUM (Greek, wolf-foot). Lycopodidcea:. 

 Ci-iB-Mciss. Gkound-pine. Runninr-pine. a genus of 

 fern allies, with erect or trailing stems, narrow lvs., 

 arranged in 4 to many ranks, and bearing spores in 

 sporangia, located either in the axils of ordinary lvs. 

 (Fig. 1339) or in the axils of modified Ivs. clustered in 

 spikes (Fig. 1340). About 100 species are known. Com- 

 monly used for holiday decorations. The spores of 

 some species form the officinal Lycopodium powder. 

 The plants which florists grow as Lycopodiums are 

 Selaginellas (which see). 



A. livs. many-riniJced. 

 B. Sporangia in the axils of nitaUercd lvs. 



Sel&gO, Linn. Stems erect, 3-9 in. long, dichot- 

 omously branched : lvs. ascending, hollow at base, 

 glossy green, not reflexed. Northern hemisphere, usu- 

 ally in high altitudes. 



lucidulum, Michx., is more common in lowlands, and 

 has lvs. wide in the middle and erose. 



squarrdsum, Forst. Stems pendulous, 1-2 ft. long, 2-3 

 times dichotomously branched: Ivs. firm, dark green, 

 spreading, %-%m. long: sporangia in the axils of re- 

 duced lvs., forming a spike. East Indies. 



BB. Sporangia aggregated in terminal spikes. 

 c. Stems pendulous: lvs. acute. 



Phlegmiria, Linn. Stems K-2 ft. long, dichoto- 

 mously forked : lvs. J4-/4 in. long, ovate : spikes copious, 

 lax, 3-G in. or more long. Tropics of Old World. 

 oc. Stems erect, tree-form. 



c^rnutim, Linn. Stems erect, reaching 3-4 ft., co- 

 piously branched: lvs. crowded, linear: spikes sessile, 

 ^-Vi n. long, curved downward. Tropics of both hemi- 

 spheres, occasionally in our gulf states. 



