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The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum, formerly Lycopersicon
lycopersicum) is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family,
native to Central, South, and southern North America from Mexico to
Peru. It is a short-lived perennial plant, grown as an annual plant,
typically growing to 1–3 m in height, with a weak, woody stem that
usually scrambles over other plants. The genus Solanum also contains
the eggplant and the potato, as well as many poisonous species.
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 word tomato derives from a word in the Nahuatl language,
tomatl. The specific name, lycopersicum, means "wolf-peach"
(compare the related species S. lycocarpum, whose scientific name
means "wolf-fruit", common name "wolf-apple").
The tomato plant was not grown in England until the 1590s,
according to Smith. One of the earliest cultivators was John Gerard,
a barber-surgeon. Gerard's Herbal, published in 1597 and largely
plagiarized from continental sources, is also one of the earliest
discussions of the tomato in England. Gerard knew that the tomato was
eaten in both Spain and Italy. Nonetheless, he believed that it was
poisonous (tomato leaves and stems contain poisonous glycoalkaloids,
but the fruit is safe). Gerard's views were influential, and the
tomato was considered unfit for eating (though not necessarily
poisonous) for many years in Britain and its North American colonies.
By the mid-1700s, however, tomatoes were widely eaten in Britain; and
before the end of that century, the Encyclopædia Britannica stated
that the tomato was "in daily use" in soups, broths, and as a garnish.
Tomatoes were originally known as "Love Apples", possibly based on a
mistranslation of the Italian name pomo d'oro (golden apple) as pomo
d'amore.
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