番茄属 fan qie shu

Herbs annual or perennial, unarmed; pubescence of simple or glandular hairs. Leaves petiolate, mostly compound with interstitial leaflets. Inflorescences appearing axillary or lateral, racemose; peduncle sometimes forked. Flowers pedicellate, 5-9-merous. Calyx campanulate, slightly enlarged or not. Corolla yellow, rotate, deeply lobed. Stamens inserted in corolla tube; filaments short; anthers slender, coherent, attenuate and long apiculate at apex, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary 2-5-loculed. Style filiform; stigma minute, capitate. Fruiting calyx hardly enlarged. Berry red, orange, yellow, or green, mostly globose, rarely grooved, sometimes pubescent. Seeds numerous, discoid, sometimes pubescent; embryo strongly curved.

Nine species: South and North America, one species widely cultivated in China.

Lower Taxon

• Lycopersicon esculentum Miller