Lycopersicon esculentum Miller (Solanaceae)
- Scientific name
- Lycopersicon esculentum Miller
- Family name
- Solanaceae
- Common name
- Tomato (English)
- Local name
- Makheua som, makheua thet
Annual herb, up to 2 m tall or taller. Stem solid, coarsely hairy, glandular. Leaves arranged spirally, simple, imparipinnate, 15–40 × 10-20 cm; petiole 3–6 cm long; major pinnae 7–9, opposite or alternate, ovate to oblong, 5–10 cm long, irregularly toothed, sometimes pinnatifid at base; covered with glandular hairs, producing a characteristic odour. Inflorescence cymose, 6–12 flowers, regular, c. 2 cm in diameter, pendant, bisexual, hypogynous, usually 6-merous. Calyx tube short, green, pointed lobes, persistent, accrescent in fruit. Corolla rotate; petals yellow, stellate. Stamens 6, anthers bright yellow. Ovary superior, with 2–9 loculi, placentation in axis. Fruit a berry, compressed globose or oblate, smooth, 1–2 cm in diameter, glabrous and shiny, red, yellow, or orange when ripe. Seeds: a flattened ovoid, 3–5 × 2–4 mm, light brown, hairy.
Various local tomato landraces are grown in backyard gardens or small plots, and are preferred to modern cultivars; occasionally sold in local markets. Propagated by seed sowing, followed by transplanting at a spacing of c. 30 × 50 cm.
Small, ripe fruits are available year-round and used for their sour taste and unique aroma in Thai dishes such as nam phrik ong (minced pork with spicy tomato dipping sauce).
Small, ripe fruits are available year-round and used for their sour taste and unique aroma in Thai dishes such as nam phrik ong (minced pork with spicy tomato dipping sauce).