Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Tomato and relatives
SOLANACEAE
Except for the potato (which is a tuber, not a fruit), the crop plants of the nightshade family
produce fruits (peppers, tomatoes) that we consider culinarily to be vegetables. Most of the
family's cultivated vegetables come from the New World and were unknown in Europe until
the 16th century; their wild ancestors are found in Central and South America. The exception
is the eggplant (aubergine), which is native to India and was brought to Spain by Arabs in the
10th century.
There are more than just food plants in this family, however. Several members are orna-
mentals (tobacco, petunias), and many species are loaded with toxic alkaloids. Various thor-
napples (
Datura
spp.), bittersweet nightshade (
Solanum dulcamara
), and deadly nightshade
(
Atropa
spp.) are poisonous but nevertheless valuable pharmacologically.
BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Botanically speaking, nightshade flowers are perfect, with five petals
and five sepals conjoined; the ovary is superior, and the fruit is either a capsule (thornapple) or a berry
(pepper, tomato, eggplant).
GENERAL PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS
Most nightshade family plants are annual or perennial
herbaceous plants. In either case, fruits and seeds are produced in the first growing season. (Every rule
has an exception: the tree tomato,
Cyphomandra betacea
, does not set fruit until the second or third
year.) Pollination behavior is less straightforward. Cultivated nightshade family plants mostly self-pol-
linate in the short days of the northern latitudes of North America and Europe, but the possibility of
cross-pollination cannot be ruled out. More precise information is found in the individual entries.
The fiery colors of jalapeño and chili peppers
Overview of the nightshade family
COMMON NAME
GENUS
SPECIES
