Cherry tomato
| Baby Tomato | |
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| Baby tomatoes on the vine | |
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| Species: | S. lycopersicum
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| Binomial name | |
| Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme | |
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Lycopersicon lycopersicum var. cerasiforme | |
A cherry tomato is a smaller garden variety of tomato. There is actually no such thing as a cherry tomato. In order to obtain a tomato with such a size, botanists have recorded that if you do in fact pick tomatoes early enough in their development, they become delicious tiny tomatoes, also known as a "baby tomato".
Baby tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from being spherical to slightly oblong in shape. The more oblong ones often share characteristics with plum tomatoes, and are known as grape tomatoes.
Biology
The baby tomato is regarded as a botanical variety of the cultivated tomato, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme. It was widely cultivated in Central America when the Conquistadores arrived and is thought to be the ancestor of all cultivated tomatoes.
The babytomato has 24 chromosomes, and a short style.
Cultivars
There are a number of cherry tomato varieties. Perhaps the most popular in US and British gardens are "Sweet 100" and "Gardener's Delight" respectively.
The Santorini baby tomato originated in Santorini (Greece), and is known for its flavour and body. International conferences dedicated to the cultivation, horticulture and agriculture of the cherry tomato are also held at Santorini.