Reading about the wild pepper species got me thinking about other (edible) species closely related to peppers. Plant classifications are far from set in stone for instance many do not class Capsicum rhomboideum as a part of the capsicum family. It has yellow flowers, its fruit have no heat and the overall plant look quite different from other capsicums. I would like to see the similarities and differences of other plants related to capsicum I have always liked how peppers grow with multiple harvests, manageable growth, and high yield (usually!). It would be nice to find some other plants with similar characteristics. It also appeals to the mad collector in me, who just has to have and try, one of every plant I read about.
I have enjoyed writing about my pepper relatives and l look forward even more too starting of the seeds. If you have not read the previous installments of pepper relatives they can be accessed here -
Solanaceae (the nightshade family)
I have collected seeds for many (probably too many!) different species to try. I hope I can grow at least one or two plants of each but we will see how space goes in the coming year
Tomato Solanum lycopersicum
First a bit of a explanation about the classification of the tomato, so skip forward a paragraph, unless like me you find plant classification interesting. There is some difficulty with the scientific naming of the tomato, because of this you will see several different versions around. From what I understand tomatoes were originally in the solanum genus. They were then separated into there own genus - lycopersicon. They have since been returned to the solanum genus due to modern genetic evidence. That being said all the tomato species within solanum are very similar to each other but are distinctly different from other solanum species, so are said to be in the lycopersicon group within solanum. So yes technically I should call all tomato species solanum ___ but to differentiate between them and other solanum I will carry on using lycopersicon.
This year I grew many cultivated varieties of tomato lycopersicon lycopersicum, but next year I would like to try some wild species. I have started looking for these seeds and ordered my first along with my peppers from https://www.semillas.de/. My first wild species of tomato is the "Galapagos island tomato" lycopersicon cheesmanii. These are a sprawling hairy plants with very small yellow fruits. One of the reasons this tomato is of interest is it has a good resistance to salt and drought and can pass these traits on when hybridized with other more common species/varieties. There are other species I have not got yet, but will probably try to collect including the "Current tomato" lycopersicon pimpinenellifolium.
Potato solanum tuberosum
As with the tomato, there are many species of potato. the species all the cultivated varieties are is solanum tuberosum. However there are many other species that have been used for breeding-in various wanted traits. I have not seen any wild species seed anywhere but will keep an eye out.
I did not grow any cultivated varieties of potato this year as space was an issue. I will probably try growing one or two varieties in large pots next year, mostly to have another solanum species in my collection to compare to.
Aubergine, Eggplant, Solanum melongena
There are many cultivated varieties of aubergine although I have not grown many. I have always struggled with these as they seem to need warmer and sunnier conditions than I can provide. The best I have done was one year in the poly-tunnel I produced three fruits on two plants. Next year I will grow one or two small podded cultivated varieties, in the hope this makes them quicker to mature.
The other cultivated species off eggplant commonly seen is the African eggplant solanum aethiopicum. fruits of these are usually round and red making the plant look like a cross between an aubergine and a tomato, i have not yet got seeds for any of these but will probably get at least one too try.
The pea eggplant solanum torvum is another close relative, with small green fruit. I will grow at least one to see its own fruit but mostly will grow it as a good root-stock, for grafting cultivated aubergine species. It grows a large root system and if protected from frost, the plant can grow as a perennial if on torvum root-stock.
The only aubergine seeds I have so far
The pea eggplant solanum torvum is another close relative, with small green fruit. I will grow at least one to see its own fruit but mostly will grow it as a good root-stock, for grafting cultivated aubergine species. It grows a large root system and if protected from frost, the plant can grow as a perennial if on torvum root-stock.
As this post is turning into another huge list I will split it up and publish it in parts.
To be continued...
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