Solanum habrochaites
 

Here's a photo, that I took today, of the flower of Solanum habrochaites, accession number LA 1777. I'm using it as a pollen donor in a project to try to incorporate promiscuous pollination and/or self-incompatibility into domestic tomatoes. I love the orange anther cone, and the exerted stigma. It drops lots of pollen when vibrated.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/LA1777-Solanum-habrochaites-flower.jpg[/IMG]

Pretty flower and dramatic color.

And a photo of the plant from a week or two ago.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/LA1777.jpg[/IMG]

Beautiful!:)

Lovely... I wish you success with your crosses! :)

What a gorgeous plant! I hope you're successful... and also maybe end up introducing some disease resistance genes into your lines.

Here's a photo of the fruits of Solanum habrochaites, LA1777.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/solanum-habrochaites-fruits.jpg[/IMG]

And a link to a [URL="http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/solanum-habrochaites-fruits-high-res.jpg"]high resolution photo[/URL]:

Have you ever tasted one? I know you think tomatoes are awful, so I can't imagine your description of one of those!

[QUOTE=jmsieglaff;560977]Have you ever tasted one? I know you think tomatoes are awful, so I can't imagine your description of one of those![/QUOTE]

I've tasted the fruits twice. They were still green and hard, and tasted like a green tomato. They were not emetic like a potato berry. I expect to make another taste report if/when one of the fruits turns soft and/or changes color.

A noid accession of Solanum habrochaites.
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/solanum-habrochaites-1.jpg[/IMG]

Some of the fruits of LA1777 fell off the plant, so I tasted them. They had a slight hint of fruitiness about them. They were low sugar. The taste was neither attractive nor unpleasant. Just a bland low sugar fruit.

Thanks for the update. Do they ripen evenly in terms of color? The striping while green was pretty neat looking.

Why try to incorporate self-incompatibility?

For a landrace, out-crossing keeps stirring up the gene pool with each generation for rapid adaptation and selection.

It's a different way of thinking than maintaining traditional varieties, and Joseph's project is unique and interesting (even if it isn't for everyone). :yes:

The Solanum habrochaites fruits of LA1777 kept the stripes when ripe. The green coloration turned a bit yellowish.