LYCIUM 



LYCOPERSICUM 



1931 



cali/6rnicum, Nutt. Spiny shrub, to 2 ft.: Ivs. thickish, spatulate, 

 very small: Ab. whitish, small: fr. red, small, eubglobose, Calif. — ■ 

 L. europa-um, Linn. (L. nitHliterranoum. Dun.). .Spiny shrub, with 

 spreading branches; Ivs. spatulate, thiekish: fls. short-pcdicelled, 

 with the slender tube much longer than limb. Medit. region. — L. 

 fuchsioules, HBK.=Iochroma fuchsioides. — L. ruth^nicum, Murr. 

 Upright, .-^piny: Ivs. linear, small, thick: fls. small, with rather long 

 tuDe: fr. globular, black. S. Uus,sia. W. fAsia. — L. tytrcomdnicum, 

 Turcz. .slender, spiny, allied to L. haliniifoiium: Ivs. and fls. smaller, 

 tube more slender and longer: fr. globular. Turkestan, N. China. 



Alfred Rehder. 



LYCOPERSICUM (u-olf peach; probably an allusion 

 to its inferiority ;\s compared with the peach or possibly 

 to its supposed jioisonous qualities). Sometimes written 

 Lycopcrxicon. Salanacca'. Tom.\to. Familiar garden 

 fruit or vegetable. 



Perhaps nearly a dozen herbs of the western side of 

 S. Amer., two of which are in common cult, for their 



2231. Old-time garden tomato, Lycopersicum esculentum. 



frs. (which in common speech are cla-ssed with vege- 

 tables). Fls. small, yellow, nearly rotate when in full 

 bloom, in short supera.xillary racemes; stamens 5, Con- 

 nate about the single style; ovary 2-loculed in the non- 

 ameliorated forms, becoming a fleshy many-seeded 

 berry: foliage irregularly or interruptedly pinnate, rank- 

 smelling: plant pubescent, straggling. — Botanically the 

 genus is very close to Solanum, from which it is dis- 

 tinguished by the characteristic pinnatelj' compound 

 Ivs., and the longitudinally dehiscing anthers which 

 are prolonged into an empty beak. It is united with 

 .Solanum by Wettstein in Engler & Prantl's "Natiir- 

 lichen Pflanzenfamilicn." In native conditions, toma- 

 toes are probably perennial, but in domestication they 

 are treated as if annual. Tender to frost. See Tomalo. 



esculentum, Mill. (Solanum Lycopersicum, Linn.). 

 Common Tom.\to. Figs. 22.31, 22.3.5. Plant spreading, 

 with grayish green, mostly conduplicate ("curled") 

 Ivs. and slender, a.scending shoots: Ivs. pinnate, with 

 small, nearly entire Ifts. interposed, the m.ain Ifts. 

 notched or even lobed toward the base: fls. in a short 

 raceme of 4-6: fr. me<lium to small, flattened endwise 

 and furrowed on the sides. — In cult, for more than 300 

 years. Two hundred years ago red and yellow varie- 

 ties were known. The great evolution of the tomato 

 did not take place until last century, giving rise to the 

 garden race. The plant sometimes escapes from cult, 

 and runs wild for a time. 



Var. vulgire, Bailey. Fig. 2232, No. 2. This is the 

 common garden tomato of N. Amer., distinguished by 

 verj- heavy growth, greener foliage, much larger and 



plane Ivs., the comparative absence of stiffish ascend- 

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

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

 ous loculps or cells. — There is every reason for believ- 

 ing that the original tomato had a 2-loculed (2-celled) 

 fr., but the course 

 of amelioration 

 has multiplied the 

 locules; it has .also 

 modified the foli- 

 age and the stat^ 

 ure of the plant. 



Var. cerasi- 

 forme, Hort. (L. 

 cerasiforme, Du- 

 nal). Cherry 

 Tomato. Still 

 grown for its little 

 globular frs. (in 

 red and yellow), 

 which are oftea 

 2 - loculed : plant 

 less large and 

 dense-foliaged, 

 the Ivs. smaller, 

 grayer: growth 

 more erect. — 

 Probably a very 

 close approach to 

 the wild plant. 

 Frs. used for pick- 

 les and con.serves. 



2232. Leaves of tomatoes : 1, Lycoper- 

 sicum esculentum var. grandifolium; 2, 

 var. vulgare; 3, cross of the two. 



Var. pyriforme, 

 Hort. ( L. pyri- 

 forme, Dunal). 

 Pear and Plum Tomato. DifTers from the last only in 

 having pear-shaped or oblong frs. — Probably occurs 

 wild in very nearly the form seen in old gardens. 



Var. validum, Bailey. Upright Tomato. Fig. 2233. 

 A remarkable cultural form, of low stiff erect growth, 

 and small, condensed, curled ivs. — Originated as a 

 chance seedling in France about 6.5 years ago. Looks 

 like a potato plant. 



2233. Tree tomato, Lycopersicum esculentum vat. validttm. 



