I Say Tomayto, You Say Tomahto...2

Table 1.  The Genus Lycopersicon [3, 7]
 

Subgenera	Species	Common Name	Chromosome Number
Eulycopersicon (red-fruited)	L. esculentum esculentum	Tomato	24
L. esculentum  cerasiforme	Cherry Tomato	24
L. pimpinellifolium	Currant Tomato	24
Eriopersicon (green-fruited)	L. peruvianum	Wild species	24
L. hirsutum	Wild species	24
L. cheesmanii	Wild species	24
L. chilense	Wild species	24
L. chmielewskii	Wild species	24
L. glandulosum	Wild species	24

From Peru, an unidentified wild ancestor of the tomato made its way north at some time several thousand years prior to the Spanish exploration of Central America in the early 16th century [6]. Tomatoes of the species L. esculentum cerasiforme were in wide cultivation throughout Central America when the first conquistadors arrived in the Yucatan area of what is now Mexico. L. esculentum cerasiforme is thought to be the direct ancestor of cultivated tomato based on its wide presence in Central America and the presence of a shortened style length in the flowers [7]. Cultivated tomato, L. esculentum has since been classified into five botanical varieties (Table 2).