Tomato

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, native to Peru and Mexico. It is an annual plant, typically growing to 1-3 m long, with a weakly woody stem that usually scrambles over other plants. The leaves are 10-25 cm long, pinnate, with 5-9 leaflets, each leaflet up to 8 cm long, with a serrated margin; both the stem and leaves are densely glandular-hairy. The flowers are 1-2 cm across, yellow, with five pointed lobes on the corolla; they are borne in a cyme of 3-12 together. The fruit is an edible, brightly coloured (usually red, from the pigment lycopene) berry, 1-2 cm diameter in wild plants, commonly much larger in cultivated forms.

Related Topics:
Solanaceae - Nightshade - Peru - Mexico - Annual plant - Leaves - Flower - Corolla - Cyme - Fruit - Lycopene - Berry

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The word tomato derives from a word in the Nahuatl language, tomatl (IPA /tɔ.matɬ/).

Related Topics:
Nahuatl - IPA

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