Solanum betaceum Cav., Anales Hist. Nat. 1:44. 1799 (syn: (≡) Cyphomandra betacea (Cav.) Sendtn.; (=) Cyphomandra crassifolia Kuntze; (=) Solanum crassifolium Ortega);

S. Tropical America: Argentina Northwest, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Windward Is.; Introduced into: Angola, Assam, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, East Himalaya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Great Britain, Guatemala, Gulf of Guinea Is., Honduras, India, Italy, Jamaica, Jawa, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Marianas, Mauritius, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New South Wales, New Zealand North, Niue, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rwanda, Réunion, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, Vietnam, Zaïre, Zimbabwe as per POWO;

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Tree Tomato, Tamarillo • Manipuri: ঊখামেন Ookhamen • Tamil: Marattakkali;
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Solanum betaceum is a small tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Solanaceae (the nightshade family). It is best known as the species that bears the tamarillo, an egg-shaped edible fruit.[2] It is also known as the tree tomato,[3] or tamamoro.

The plant is a fast-growing tree that grows up to 5 meters. Peak production is reached after 4 years,[6] and the life expectancy is about 12 years.[4] The tree usually forms a single upright trunk with lateral branches. The flowers and fruits hang from the lateral branches. The leaves are large, simple and perennial, and have a strong pungent smell.[6] The flowers are pink-white, and form clusters of 10 to 50 flowers. They produce 1 to 6 fruits per cluster. Plants can set fruit without cross-pollination, but the flowers are fragrant and attract insects. Cross-pollination seems to improve fruit set.[6] The roots are shallow and not very pronounced, therefore the plant is not tolerant to drought stress, and can be damaged by strong winds. Tamarillos will hybridize with many other solanaceae, though the hybrid fruits will be sterile, and unpalatable in some instances.
The fruits are egg shaped and about 4-10 centimeters long. Their color varies from yellow and orange to red and almost purple. Sometimes they have dark, longitudinal stripes. Red fruits are more acetous, yellow and orange fruits are sweeter. The flesh has a firm texture and contains more and larger seeds than a common tomato.[4] The fruits are very high in vitamins and iron and low in calories (only about 40 calories per fruit).[6]
(From Wikipedia on 17.2.15)
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-Scientifically known as Cyphomandra betacea commonly Tamarillo. Native to South America, Andes region of Peru and Chile.


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-More pics of Cyphomandra betacea, taken from NBPGR, Phagli, Shimla in November 2010.
6 images.

I think 2nd, 3rd and 6th image is of Solanum muricatum and not of Solanum betaceum


– Have anyone tasted this fruit? I have an experience tasting the bitter exocarp and sweeter inner pulp



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Solanum betaceum Cav.
in a herbal garden at Munnar on June 5, 2014 

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Solanaceae Week: Cyphomandra betacea PKFEB02/02 : 5 posts by 5 authors. Attachments (1)
Cyphomandra betacea (Cav.) Sendt. Commonly known as Tree Tomato

Nice. This tree tomato is also planted by people in kitchen gardens in Uttarakhand.
Alien element like true tomato.

Very interesting. Must be non-native to India


Many thanks … for this upload, nice picture; synonymous to Solanum betaceum Cav.


its from peru etc. …ie south american native
grown all over as novelty
nice  pic, … but would it ripen to bright red in Uttarakhand, …?


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A few pictures of Cyphomandra betacea (Solanum betaceum syn.).
Tree tomato or tamarillo.
Photographed from a farm in Kanthaloor, Idukki district, Kerala.


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Sharing few pics of “Tree Tomatofrom CPRI Campus, Shimla..
Solanum betaceum
Please suggest corrections, if any..


Thanks for sharing


…, I never tasted it and haven’t seen this being sold in any market, may be … can tell more..



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Solanaceae Fortnight:: For id confirmation, Darjeeling-NS Feb 58/58 : 4 posts by 4 authors. Attachments (4)
This shrub was recorded from Pelling and Darjeeling, pics being submitted for id confirmation, I hope this is Solanum betaceum ..


Amazing, it looks like a herb in the pictures!


any fruits? i have seen many of these trees with fruits but never flowers in this detail


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Solanum betaceum ATFEB2016/03 : 6 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (4)

Tamarillo, Tree tomato or Tamamoro
Solanum betaceum Syn. Cyphomandra betacea
Place: Hamirpur and Solan (H.P.)
Jan., 2016 and Nov., 2014
Fruits very tasty, a better form of tomatoes


Well presented, …


Ripe fruits. Attachments (1)


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Solanum betaceum AT JAN 2017/06 : 7 posts by 4 authors. Attachments (5)
Solanum betaceum
Tamarillo,  tree tomato, tamamoro
Cultivated fruit
Hamirpur (H.P.)
August 2016

Superb again.


Thank you, … It tastes nice as a mixture of guava and tomato. It has a lot of shelf life.


Beautiful images. It is also planted in many places in Uttarakhand.


Very nice display of features… Thanks …!!


Sir, I got one fruit from …, Head of Floriculture department at Dr. YS Parmar University, Solan. He brought it from NE. I distributed plants to others as well. It is not performing well in H.P. It bears fruits only once in a year.



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Solanum betaceum Cav. : 3 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (7)- around 700 kb each.
Location:  Nagarkot, Nepal  
Date: 3 April 2018
Altitude: 6000 ft.
Habit: Cultivated


 


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Tree for id @ Sattal, Uttarakhand, 23-01-2020 : 15 posts by 5 authors. Attachments (2)
A small tree, 8 feet, planted – not wild.
Flowers not seen.
Fruit?: in different stages of maturity, red / green
These are the only images I have.
Apologies for the sub-optimal quality of images.

Solanum betaceum


Had never seen a ‘habit = tree’ in Solanum before.


Very nice posting & interesting too. Can you please post few more photographs showing the habit of the tree as well as flowers.


Please see my initial post of 05-03-2020 on this thread. Your queries are already answered there …,

I have seen it. But the tree picture is not in full. That is why I requested. No problem.


Attachments (1) – 1 mb.


Yes, Tree Tomato.
Had seen it in Kodaikanal.



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at Dharamshala– Dec’09?; Request for ID of Flora of Dharamshala – efloraofindia | Google Groups

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Solanum betaceum from Nauni Campus, Solan-GS16012022-3: 6 high res. images.
Solanum betaceum, clicked from Nauni Campus, Solan, 28-5-2015.


 


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References:

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