


1891.] The History of Garden Vegetables. 705 
Lycopersicum rotundum. 
I here place the larger unribbed round or oval varieties which 
are now becoming popular, and also the fancy varieties known as 
the plum, but I would not have it understood that at present I 
consider this group as forming a true species in the botanical 
sense, for my studies are not yet sufficiently complete. Of this 
group there are no indications of their being known to the early 
botanists, the first apparent reference I can detect being by 
Tournefort in 1700, who places among his varieties the 
Lycopersicum rubro non striato, and this same variety was 
catalogued by Tilly” at Pisa in 1723. The xon striato not fluted 
or ribbed, implying the round form. In 1842 some seed of the 
Feejee Island variety was distributed in Philadelphia, and 
Wilkes describes the fruit of one variety as round, smooth, 
yellow, the size of a large peach, and the fruit of two other 
varieties as the size of a small egg, but gives no other particulars. 
This is the first certain reference that I find to this group. The 
large smooth or round red and the small yellow oval tomato of 
Browne,” 1854, may belong here. Here may be classed such 
varieties as Hathaway’s Excelsior, King Humbert, and the Plum, 
and some of the tomate pomme varieties of the French. 
This form occasionally appears in the plants from seed ot 
hybrid origin, as when the cross was made between the currant 
and the tree tomato, some plants thus obtained yielded fruit of 
the plum type. This, however, may have been atavism. The 
botanical relations seem nearer to the cherry tomato than to the 
ordinary forms. 
+ 
Lycopersicum cerasiforme Dun. 
_ The cherry tomato is recorded as growing spontaneously in 
Peru,® in the West Indies,” Antilles,“ and Southern Texas.” 
have also observed it in a railroad cutting in New Jersey. It 
furnishes red and yellow varieties, and was noted in Europe as 
% Tournefort. Inst., 1719, 150. 
91 Tillius. Cat, Hort. Pisa, at Pisa, 1723, soi 
u Descourtilz. P- Ant, v., 

