Actually all the Lycopersicon species are native to South America but the
large fruited cultivars were developed in cultivation by the Aztecs of
Mexico in Pre-Columbian times.


"Paulo" wrote in message
...
Well, i was looking into this subject.....Tomatoes are not coming form
South
America, in fact they are from North America, Mexico exaclty (Technically
North America). In nahuatl (aztec language) this fruit is called
tomatl....than in spanish tomate...and english tomatoe....

--
Paulo
"'enry VIII" wrote in message
news:Zf8Bc.78770$HG.48120@attbi_s53...

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
"'enry VIII" wrote in
news:LS6Bc.59644$Hg2.36936@attbi_s04:


"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
(tutu) wrote in
om:

My tomato is blossoming, but no pruit at all, what is the problem?
thank you.

Perhaps your plants are suffering from too much 'pee'. Or maybe
'you' and 'I' are getting mixed up.

Ribbing aside, I think it was at least a week (maybe even two or
three) before my flowers started changing into tomotoes.

That's pretty interesting, flowers turning into veggies!

She/he asked about tomatoes and you give an answer about "tomotoes",
what is wrong with you? ;-)

All ribbing aside, what is a "tomotoe"?

'enry VIII

sigh This question gets asked a lot. Most people know that the
'tomato' is native to South America, but do not know the etymology
(origin) of the word 'tomato'. The word tomato actually is a
corruption
of the name of a Chief of the Andean Patchului tribe, Tomo, and the
Spanish word for toe, 'dedo'. After 'discovering' the tomato a few
days prior, the Spaniards came upon Tomo who was returning from a trip
into the lowlands. The Spaniards noticed the immature fruit of the
tomato bore a striking resemblance to Tomo's toes, which were green
from
wearing alpaca yarn socks in the jungle (*not* a good idea). So they
called the plant 'tomo-dedoes'. Much later, after Thomas Jefferson
(?)
proved that tomatoes were not poisonous, the name was Anglicized to
'tomato', because quite frankly, nobody wants to think about
somebody's
nasty bloated gangrene toes when eating their salad. But
knowledgeable
English speakers still call the immature fruit 'tomotoes' (while
knowledgeable Spaniards will say 'tomodedos'). You can read more
about
this fascinating subject in "The True History of Edible Plants" by
Lion
Trumeteef.

As for turing a flower into a vegetable, that is reputed to be the
work
of the government. http://lamar.colostate.edu/~samcox/Tomato.html

Now, if you'll excuse me, I intend to put on my 'embarassed' hood and
run off into the night. :-)

LOL

'enry VIII