Jepson Herbarium
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University of California, Berkeley
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Vascular Plants of California
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Lycopersicon esculentum

TOMATO


Higher Taxonomy
Family: SolanaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: NIGHTSHADE FAMILY
Habit: Annual to shrub. Leaf: generally simple, generally alternate, generally petioled; stipules 0; blade entire to deeply lobed. Inflorescence: various. Flower: bisexual; calyx lobes generally 5; corolla +- radial, cylindric to rotate, lobes generally 5; stamens 5, on corolla tube, alternate lobes; ovary superior, generally 2-chambered, style 1. Fruit: berry, loculicidal or septicidal capsule, [(drupe)], 2--5-chambered.
Genera In Family: 75 genera, 3000 species: worldwide, especially +- tropics; many alien weeds in California; many cultivated for food, drugs, or ornamental (potato, tomato, peppers, tobacco, petunia). Toxicity: many TOXIC. Note: Nicandra physalodes (L.) Gaertn. is a waif.
eFlora Treatment Author: Michael H. Nee
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: LycopersiconView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Habit: Annual or perennial herb, sticky-glandular, aromatic. Leaf: +- odd-1--2-pinnate. Inflorescence: raceme; pedicels jointed. Flower: often nodding; parts generally 5; sepals free +- to base; corolla yellow, +- rotate or lobes reflexed; anthers > filaments, tube-like around style, tapered, opening by slits from tip (except sterile part); stigma exserted from anthers. Fruit: berry, green to red, fleshy. Seed: coat gelatinous.
Etymology: (Greek: wolf peach, from supposed toxic properties) Note: Recently included in Solanum.
Reference: Peralta et al. 2008 Syst Bot Monogr 84:1--186
Unabridged Reference: Muller 1940 USDA Misc Publ 382; Peralta, I. E., D.M. Spooner & S. Knapp. 2008. Taxonomy of wild tomatoes and their relatives (Solanum sect. Lycopersicoides, sect. Juglandifolia, sect. Lycopersicon: Solanaceae). Syst Bot Monographs 84: 1--186
Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
NATURALIZED
Habit: Erect or reclining, often fleshy, from taproot. Leaf: 10--20 cm. Inflorescence: few-flowered; peduncle 1.5--4 cm; bracts generally 0. Fruit: 3--12 cm wide, spheric, compressed, or pear-shaped, yellow-green to red.
Ecology: Disturbed areas, abandoned fields, roadsides; Elevation: < 100 m. Bioregional Distribution: GV, SnFrB, SCo; Distribution Outside California: native to South America. Flowering Time: Summer--fall
Synonyms: Solanum lycopersicum L.
Jepson eFlora Author: Michael H. Nee
Reference: Peralta et al. 2008 Syst Bot Monogr 84:1--186
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Citation for this treatment: Michael H. Nee 2012, Lycopersicon esculentum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=32229, accessed on February 09, 2025.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2025, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on February 09, 2025.

Lycopersicon esculentum
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©2013 Neal Kramer

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Geographic subdivisions for Lycopersicon esculentum:
GV, SnFrB, SCo
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map of distribution 1

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).