Common name: Tomato • Hindi: टमाटर Tamatar • Tamil: தக்காளி Takkali • Manipuri: খামেন অসিন্বা Khamen asinba
Botanical name: Lycopersicon esculentum Family: Solanaceae (Potato family)
Tomatoes are one of the most common vegetables in India. The red round fruit
is eaten raw or cooked. All green parts of the plant are poisonous.
Tomato flowers are similar in shape to many other flowers of the solanum
family, like brinjal.
One of the most unusual features of the tomato blossom, very different from
our Standard Blossom, is this: its anthers are grown together along their
edges, forming a column surrounding the pistil's style. Once the flower is
pollinated, the little ovary will begin growing very fast. The
anther-cylinder around it and the bright petals will dry up, shrivel and fall
away. However the sepals will remain and eventually the ovary will be a
magnificent tomato.
| Photographed in New Delhi |
Identification credit: Supriya Saha
|