XXX.] SYNOPSIS OF TOMATOES. 477 



rupture caused by these adventitious cells takes the 

 form of an irregular line rather than a ring, as in the 

 illustration. Most of the large varieties of tomatoes 

 give unmistakable evidence of development from the 

 Cherry tomato. So obvious is the direction and 

 manner of variation in the tomato, that among 

 seventy -five varieties grown in our gardens last year, 

 there were none which refused to be classified, in re- 

 lation to their origins and tendencies, as to whether 

 the earliest variations had been directly from the 

 Cherry tomato or through the Pear tomato. So clear 

 does this manner of variation become, after a few 

 weeks of study, that I am compelled to place more 

 confidence in this method of ascertaining the origin 

 of our cultivated tomatoes than in the records of old 

 herbals. 



We cannot so positively determine the color of the 

 original tomato. Five -sixths or more of all our 

 tomatoes are in various shades of red. From this 

 fact we infer that red is the strongest and prevail- 

 ing, hence the original, color. 



The classification of cultivated tomatoes, upon 

 morphological principles, may be represented as fol- 

 lows : 



Ltcopersicum esculentum, Miller, Gard. Diet. 



(1768). 



§A. Cerasiforme. — Cherry tomatoes fL. cerasi- 



formej Dunal, Hist. Solan. 113). Fruit 



spherical, two -celled, — the original type. 



§B. Pyriforme. — Pear and Plum tomatoes fL. pyr- 



iforme, Dunal, 1. c. 112). Fruit oblong or 



pyriform, two -celled, conspicuously pendent. 



