The tomato belongs to the nightshade family. The plants typically grow to 1–3 meters (3–10 ft) in height and have a weak stem that often sprawls over the ground and vines over other plants. It is a perennial in its native habitat, although often grown outdoors in temperate climates as an annual.
Colors[]
Tomato colors are kind of tricky; red isn’t the only color in the pallet. If you’ve spent any time with seed catalogs or read any books on tomatoes, you’ll see references to yellow, pink, orange, bicolor, green, purple, chocolate, white, blue, and black. Still, the colors aren’t necessarily obvious, nor do the same varieties of tomatoes grown in different climates have the same color. What’s a home gardener to do?
The fruit colors are as follows:
- Red: No need to explain this, as it’s what you see in the grocery store. Red tomatoes have red interiors and yellow skin.
- Pink: These are tomatoes with a red interior but clear skin; therefore, they appear pinker than the reds.
- Purple: Generally a richer, dusky pink, both skin and flesh.
- White: A white tomato stays white when ripe. They start out that way, but then develop ivory to light yellow tones.The best chance for a white tomato to stay almost all white is one grown in a cooler climate.
- Yellow: A clear, lemony yellow, both inside and out.
- Gold: These are the tomatoes that start out as yellow, but turn a richer gold color when ripe.
- Orange: These are really orange-colored, although some are brighter than others.
- Green: The skin is mostly green when ripe, with an amber blush on the blossom end. The interiors tend to be an almost neon green.
- Chocolate: A dusky purple. If you’re not used to dark tomatoes, you might think these look very strange when ripe.
- Black: A much darker purple. Some people are put off by the color of the skin and flesh of a black tomato, but they really are very good!
- Bicolor: Generally these refer to the red and yellow colors. The skin is striped and the interior is generally mottled red and yellow. Visually stunning!
gallery[]
The image gallery for tomatoes may be viewed here: