11/07/2016
The One of a Kind, The Tomato Tree (Plant)
The tomato plant (tree) is also known as the Cyphomandra betacea
Sendt. This plant is the most well known among the family of 30
species. It is included in the family of Solanaceae. It is known of
different names all over the world. Some of the names are the tree
tomato, tomate extranjero, tomato granadilla, tomate, pix, granadilla,
caxlan and tomate de arbol. However, shorty after the plant was
found in New Zealand, it was named tamarillo and in the
commercial world, it is known by that name ever since.
The tomato tree is smaller than other trees however it is different
from the other tomatoes as it has a branch that is half woody. This
plant has an attractive look. It has the ability to grow quite fast but it
has shallow root and might be perfect to be paired with other deep
rooted plants. When fully grown, the plant can reach 10 to 18 feet in
average or 3 – 5.5 meter. However, there has been noted that some
of the biggest tomato tree can reach the height of 25 feet or 7.5
meter. This brittle tree has muskily odorous leaves. The heat shaped
leaves are evergreen.
The fruits of the tomato tree are long stalked and can be borne
single or also in clusters of as little as 3 and as many as 12. The
fruits are not round like most of the tomatoes, rather it has an oval
egg shaped like. There are quite a variety of fruit skin colors. There
are the blood red, yellow, orange, solid deep purple and a mix or red
and yellow. However, the skin of the fruit is tough and it is not
please to be consumed. Therefore, one will need to peel the skins
before consumption.