Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, is a member of the
nightshade family of plants which is well known for being poisonous. Luckily
for all tomato lovers the fruit does not contain any poison. Tomato originated
in Central and South America and when it was first grown it looked very
different to modern day tomato. It is thought they were the size of cherry
tomatoes and yellow. Although tomatoes are eaten as vegetables they are
botanically a fruit. The world’s largest tomato plant was grown in the green
houses of the Walt Disney park in Florida and could produce 32,000 golf ball
size tomatos that were served in the parks restaurants.
The roots
are structured around one main taproot with many secondary roots developing
from this.