Tomato
or LOVE APPLE (Lycopersicum esculentum), a plant of the natural order Solanaceæ, so named by Tournefort, but subsequently combined by Linnæus with the genus Solanum, now, however, recognized as a distinct genus under the name of the earlier botanist. It is distinguished from Solanum by the stamens having the anthers connected by a thin membrane, and by their cells opening in longitudinal slits on the sides, not in pores at the apex as in that genus. The fruit is fleshy, usually red Dr yellow. The tomato is one of a genus of several species, all natives of South America, chiefly on the Peruvian side. It is the only species in cultivation in Europe, into which it was brought by the Spaniards in 1583. In the warmer countries of Europe, the United States and other countries in which the summer is warm and prolonged, it has long been cultivated for the excellent qualities of the fruit as an article of diet.
Though it was introduced into Great Britain as early as 1596, the consumption of its fruit there is still small as compared with some other European countries and America. Like its near relative the potato, the tomato is subject to attacks of phytophthora-the potato-disease fungus, and the fruit is liable to a disease also of fungus origin, which causes considerable loss to inexperienced growers, but rarely attack the plants of those who understand their treatment under glass. Its use in any way as food is considered beneficial in affections of the liver, indigestion, and diarrhea. The word tomato is derived from the Spanish-American name tamate, and the English name love apple has arisen from its supposed aphrodisiac properties.