Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Lycopersicon esculentum

Family

Solanaceae

Flowering season

July to September

English distribution

The casual escape is scattered throughout the country but is

slightly less common in the North.

For a map see the National Biodiversity Network Gateway

- Tomato

Habitat

It is a neophyte, which was introduced in the 1590s, and is grown

as a salad plant throughout the country, both indoors and outdoors.

It has been known as a casual escape since the early 1900s.

It grows on waste ground, rubbish tips and close to sewage works.

It has occasionally been found growing on the strand line of beaches

in Dorset. 

The pictures shown here are from the upper zone of a sandy beach

and may have arisen from seeds from discarded sandwiches.

Description

Tomato is an introduced, scrambling, annual herb growing up to 1m.

The flowers have 5 yellow petals, are approximately 2cm across

and pollinated by bumble bees.

The stamens form a conspicuous yellow cone protruding from the

centre of the flower.

The flower stems are covered in glandular hairs, which have a

characteristic smell and stain skin brown.

The fruits are globose, starting off green and turning red on ripening.

The leaves are green and pinnately lobed.

The commercial growth of tomatoes in the UK is a huge industry,

especially now that the season is extended by using greenhouses

and polytunnels.

Pollination is no longer done by hand but by imported commercially-

bred bumble bees.