Tomato

Tomato growing on a beach on
St Mary's, Isle of Scilly

Flowers and glandular flower stems

Fruits on plant growing as a casual on the beach

Pinnately-lobed leaf

Ripe and ripening fruits in a greenhouse

First prize (not me!)
Lycopersicon esculentum
Solanaceae
July to September
The casual escape is scattered throughout the country but is
slightly less common in the North.
See the BSBI distribution map for Tomato
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.
Tomato is an introduced, scrambling, annual herb growing
up to 1m.
The flowers have 5 yellow petals, are approximately 2cm across
and are 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.
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