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• Physical Description
• Growth
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Taxonomy

Physical Description

Family Solanaceae:

Herbs, shrubs, small trees, or climbers. Stems sometimes prickly, rarely thorny; hairs simple, branched, or stellate, sometimes glandular. Leaves alternate, solitary or paired, simple or pinnately compound, without stipules; leaf blade entire, dentate, lobed, or divided. Inflorescences terminal, overtopped by continuing axes, appearing axillary, extra-axillary, or leaf opposed, often apparently umbellate, racemose, paniculate, clustered, or solitary flowers, rarely true cymes, sometimes bracteate. Flowers mostly bisexual, usually regular, 5-merous, rarely 4- or 6-9-merous. Calyx mostly lobed. Petals united. Stamens as many as corolla lobes and alternate with them, inserted within corolla, all alike or 1 or more reduced; anthers dehiscing longitudinally or by apical pores. Ovary 2-5-locular; placentation mostly axile; ovules usually numerous. Style 1. Fruiting calyx often becoming enlarged, mostly persistent. Fruit a berry or capsule. Seeds with copious endosperm; embryo mostly curved.

About 95 genera with 2300 species: best represented in western tropical America, widespread in temperate and tropical regions; 20 genera (ten introduced) and 101 species in China.

Some species of Solanaceae are known in China only by plants cultivated in ornamental or specialty gardens: Atropa belladonna Linnaeus, Cyphomandra betacea (Cavanilles) Sendtner, Brugmansia suaveolens (Willdenow) Berchtold & Presl, Nicotiana alata Link & Otto, and Solanum jasminoides Paxton.^[1]

Genus Lycopersicon:

Herbs annual or perennial, unarmed; pubescence of simple or glandular hairs. Leaves petiolate, mostly compound with interstitial leaflets. Inflorescences appearing axillary or lateral, racemose; peduncle sometimes forked. Flowers pedicellate, 5-9-merous. Calyx campanulate, slightly enlarged or not. Corolla yellow, rotate, deeply lobed. Stamens inserted in corolla tube; filaments short; anthers slender, coherent, attenuate and long apiculate at apex, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary 2-5-loculed. Style filiform; stigma minute, capitate. Fruiting calyx hardly enlarged. Berry red, orange, yellow, or green, mostly globose, rarely grooved, sometimes pubescent. Seeds numerous, discoid, sometimes pubescent; embryo strongly curved.

Nine species: South and North America, one species widely cultivated in China.^[2]

Growth

Culture: Space 24-36" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Lycopersicon:

There are approximately 3,350 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: L. cheesmanii minus · L. cheesmanii typicum · L. esculentum galeni · L. esculentum intermedium · L. esculentum typicum · L. peruvianum commutatum · L. peruvianum puberulum · L. peruvianum typicum · L. aesculenon · L. agrimoniifolium · L. bipinnatifidum · L. cerasiforme var. cognitum · L. cerasiforme var. leptophyllum · L. cerasiforme var. rotundilobum · L. cheesmaniae · L. cheesmanii (Cheesman's Tomato) · L. cheesmanii f. minus · L. cheesmanii subsp. minus · L. cheesmanii subsp. typicum · L. cheesmanii var. minor · L. cheesmannii · L. chilense (Chile Tomato) · L. chmielewskii · L. commutatum · L. dentatum · L. esculentum 'Alicante' · L. esculentum 'Arasta' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Blizzard' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Chiswick Dessert' · L. esculentum 'Chiswick Peach' · L. esculentum 'Chiswick Red' · L. esculentum 'Cossack' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Counter' · L. esculentum 'Cristal' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Flavr Savr' · L. esculentum 'Gardener's Delight' · L. esculentum 'Gold Nugget' · L. esculentum 'Golden Sunburst' · L. esculentum 'Golden Sunrise' · L. esculentum 'Harbinger' · L. esculentum 'Jenny' · L. esculentum 'Lemon Girl' · L. esculentum 'Nectar' · L. esculentum 'Outdoor Girl' · L. esculentum 'Pannovy' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Phyra' · L. esculentum 'Piranto' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Red Peach' · L. esculentum 'Ruby' · L. esculentum 'Shirley' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Sonato' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Spectra' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Sun Baby' · L. esculentum 'Sunset' · L. esculentum 'Supersweet 100' · L. esculentum 'Sweet 100' · L. esculentum 'Sweet Million' · L. esculentum 'Tangella' · L. esculentum 'Tigerella' · L. esculentum 'Tornado' · L. esculentum 'Vanessa' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Western Gold' F1 hybrid · L. esculentum 'Yellow Debut' · L. esculentum 'Yellow Perfection' · L. esculentum 'Yellow Stuffer' · L. esculentum cultum · L. esculentum f. pyriforme · L. esculentum fruticosum · L. esculentum infiniens · L. esculentum Mill. 'Bazalt' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Big White Pink Striped' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Black Plum' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Elberta Girl' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Evergreen' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Gigante' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Granit' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Green Grape' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Grit' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Gundula' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Hild's Martina' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Humboldtii' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Karmin violett' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Katcino Zluté' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Luteocarpum' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Nadja' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Nigrum' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Orange' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Peche' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Piriforme' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Red Jacket' · L. esculentum Mill. 'San Marsano' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Stupicke Polni' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Varsowia' · L. esculentum Mill. 'White Beauty' · L. esculentum Mill. 'White Wander' · L. esculentum Mill. 'Zhuan Hong Kiao' · L. esculentum Mill. convar. esculentum var. esculentum 'Marmande' · L. esculentum Mill. convar. esculentum var. violaceum 'Carmin Violett · L. esculentum Mill. convar. fruticosum C.O.Lehm. var. finiens C.O.Leh · L. esculentum Mill. convar. grandifolium 'Mikado'

Bibliography

• Kuang Ko-zen & Lu An-ming, eds. 1978. Solanaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 67(1): 1-175.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 24, 2006.

Identifiers:

• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 931911

Footnotes:

1. Zhi-Yun Zhang, Anmin Lu & William G. D'Arcy "Solanaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 300. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. "Lycopersicon". in Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 329. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.