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The Solanaceae, also known as the potato or deadly nightshade family is one of humankind’s most utilized and important plant families. It contains some of the world’s most important food plants, such as the potato, tomato, all peppers, ground cherries (tomatillo), and eggplant.
What is the family group of tomato?
Solanaceae, the nightshade, or potato, family of flowering plants (order Solanales), with 102 genera and nearly 2,500 species, many of considerable economic importance as food and drug plants. Among the most important of those are potato (Solanum tuberosum); eggplant (S. melongena); tomato (S.
What are tomatoes related to?
Because of its flower structure, the tomato is obviously closely related to the genus Solanum which includes the potato (S. tuberosum), eggplant (S. melongena), and a number of species called nightshades.
What fruits are in the tomato family?
[1] Botanically, yes, a tomato is a fruit. But so are cucumbers and chili peppers, while rhubarb, carrots, and sweet potatoes are botanically vegetables but occasionally considered culinary fruits.Tomato Family Fruits. Tomato Family Fruits May 31st, 2012 food, quito [html].
What plants are in the same family as tomatoes?
The Solanaceae, also known as the potato or deadly nightshade family is one of humankind’s most utilized and important plant families. It contains some of the world’s most important food plants, such as the potato, tomato, all peppers, ground cherries (tomatillo), and eggplant.
Are potato and tomato related?
Potatoes belong to a small family, the Nightshade or Solanaceous family. The other members are tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Potatoes resemble tomatoes more than the other family members. Potatoes and tomatoes can share diseases, like this year’s large problem with late blight.
Are aubergines and tomatoes related?
The aubergine (Solanum melongena) is a member of the giant genus Solanum (containing around 1,400 species) within the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Aubergine is one of the most economically important solanaceous crops, along with potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and tobacco. It is now a domesticated plant.
Are tomatoes in the nightshade family?
Nightshade is a family of plants that includes tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and peppers. Tobacco is also in the nightshade family. Nightshades are unique because they contain small amounts of alkaloids.
Are kiwi and tomato related?
A new study that decoded the DNA sequence of the kiwifruit has concluded that the fruit has many genetic similarities between its 39,040 genes and other plant species, including potatoes and tomatoes.
Is tomato a fruit or berry?
berry, in botany, a simple fleshy fruit that usually has many seeds, such as the banana, grape, and tomato. As a simple fruit, a berry is derived from a single ovary of an individual flower. The middle and inner layers of the fruit wall often are not distinct from each other.
Why are plants called nightshades?
Nightshade vegetables are the edible parts of flowering plants that belong to the Solanaceae family. The origin of the name nightshades is unclear, but could be related to their dark and mystical past. Some nightshades are rumored to have been formerly used as narcotics and hallucinogens.
Are grapes and tomatoes related?
Fruit – in its strict botanical sense, the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of a plant, enclosing the seed or seeds. Thus, apricots, bananas, and grapes, as well as bean pods, corn grains, tomatoes, cucumbers, and (in their shells) acorns and almonds, are all technically fruits.
What is in the squash family?
Zucchini, squash, marrows, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons and gourds are all members of the Curcubitaceae, Squash or Gourd family. These fruits and vegetables are also known as ‘Curcubits’.
Which type of plant is tomato?
tomato, (Solanum lycopersicum), flowering plant of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), cultivated extensively for its edible fruits. Labelled as a vegetable for nutritional purposes, tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C and the phytochemical lycopene.
Is potatoes and tomatoes are members of the same plant family?
Tomatoes and potatoes are both members of the same family, Solanum or nightshade. Because they are brethren so to speak, it seems logical that planting tomatoes and potatoes together would be a perfect marriage.
What family does the cucumber belong to?
Are Pomatoes real?
The pomato (a portmanteau of potato and tomato) is a grafted plant that is produced by grafting together a tomato plant and a potato plant, both of which are members of the Solanum genus in the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. Cherry tomatoes grow on the vine, while white potatoes grow in the soil from the same plant.
How do you identify a Solanaceae family?
Called the nightshade family or the potato family, Solanaceae has more than 90 genera and nearly 3,000 species distributed throughout the world. Its members are characterized by flowers with five petals, sepals, and stamens and typically bear alternate leaves. Many species contain toxic alkaloids.
Is Avocado a nightshade plant?
It is a nightshade referred to by the common name watermelon nightshade, as its leaves somewhat resemble those of a watermelon plant (the melon-leaved nightshade is a different species, S. heterodoxum, whose leaves resemble those of a normal melon plant).
Is Onion a nightshade?
Plants in the Solanaceae family are informally referred to as nightshade plants. Onions, including red onions, are not in the Solanaceae or nightshade family. While the potato and tomato are common foods around the world, some in this family, like the black nightshade plant (Solanum nigrum), are extremely toxic.
What are tomatoes cousins?
Tomatillo, the tart cousin of the tomato.
Are tomatillos part of the tomato family?
Tomatoes and tomatillos are both members of the nightshade family, they both are frequently misidentified as vegetables, and they grow best in warm climates. That’s where the similarities end. Unripe, they look the same (save for the tomatillo’s husk).