someone wrote:

the tomato and potato are, indeed, of the SAME genus (I'm sorry dude ...
no
I'm not). Its is rather old news that the tomato's genus name has
changed
from Lycopersicon esculentum to Solanum lycopersicum (And it was
LycopersicON, dude, NOT LycopersicUM).

+ + +

As far as I know the majority view is that Lycopersicon is an
independent
genus. However it certainly is not cast in stone. There have been, and
likely still are, those who regard the tomato and potato as belonging to
the
same genus



I believe the Tomato is Solanum and not Lycopersicon. I believe this because
I hypothesize that some million/s of years ago the Tomato plants of South
America, a few of them gained a mutation. And this mutation of a few tomato
plants had the tomato fruit buried in the soil so that the fruit became a tuber.

And thus was born the first creation of the potato plant.

And since Potato plant is a Solanum, then obviously the tomato is a Solanum.

Question: do the Paleontologists have any fossil record of the tomato and
potato?
Does the tomato exist further back in time than the potato? My guess is yes
considering the above Hypothesis.

And one should be able to duplicate the experiment that Nature already did. One
should be able to find a *wild tomato* and by testing thousands of these wild
tomatoes one should be able to find one of these wild-tomatoes place its fruit
into
the ground and become a *tuber*.

Archimedes Plutonium,
whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots
of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies

In article , wrote...
[snip]

As far as I know the majority view is that Lycopersicon is an
independent
genus. However it certainly is not cast in stone. There have been, and
likely still are, those who regard the tomato and potato as belonging to
the
same genus

Indeed, that is the current classificatory trend. The tomato group
is nested very deep in a much larger _Solanum_ clade. It would be hard
to recognize it as a separate genus [doing so would seem to require
breaking the rest of Solanum up into many small genera]. Recent
researchers include not only tomatoes but also the "tree tomato"
'Cyphomandra betacea' and its kin in the genus Solanum.

http://newcrop.hort.purdue.edu/newcr...ee_tomato.html
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/tamarillo.html
[links illustrating "tree tomatoes"]

I believe the Tomato is Solanum and not Lycopersicon.

Or, "Lycopersicon" is a name that was applied to one particular
small subgroup of _Solanum_.

I believe this because
I hypothesize that some million/s of years ago the Tomato plants of South
America, a few of them gained a mutation. And this mutation of a few tomato
plants had the tomato fruit buried in the soil so that the fruit became a tuber.

No. Tomatoes and potatoes are indeed fairly closely related to one
another within the huge genus _Solanum_, but the potato tuber is a
modified underground stem, not a fruit. Cultivated potatoes still
do flower and fruit [but many varieties set few fruit], and the
fruits do still look like small greenish tomatoes. Tomatoes and the
potato fruits develop from the ripened ovaries of the flowers, but
the potato tubers develop from whole branch shoots. It's a stem,
not a fruit.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/vege1.htm

http://www.plantkingdom.com/kingdom/...ae/solanum.htm
http://www.plantkingdom.com/kingdom/...e/lycprscn.htm
http://newcrop.hort.purdue.edu/newcr...99/v4-379.html

And thus was born the first creation of the potato plant.

And since Potato plant is a Solanum, then obviously the tomato is a Solanum.

And so is the eggplant and a great many other plant species
including herbs, shrubs, woody vines and even some moderate-sized
trees. Some _Solanum_ species are common weeds, and a few are
cultivated ornamentals. Most are tropical.

http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/weedinfo/SOLANUMC2.html
http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/weedinfo/SOLANUMB2.htm
list some weeds

Question: do the Paleontologists have any fossil record of the tomato and
potato?

Don't know. The following site indicated "no records found"
for a search on "Solanum"

http://ibs.uel.ac.uk/ibs/palaeo/pfr2/pfr.htm

If there is any fossil record for members of this group, it may well
just be of fossil pollen grains, which would tell you very little
about tubers.

Does the tomato exist further back in time than the potato? My guess is yes
considering the above Hypothesis.

And one should be able to duplicate the experiment that Nature already did. One
should be able to find a *wild tomato* and by testing thousands of these wild
tomatoes one should be able to find one of these wild-tomatoes place its fruit
into the ground and become a *tuber*.

There are several wild species of tomatoes and also various wild
species of potatoes. Several of the wild potatoes do form tubers. The
tubers again are modified stems, not fruits. The many wild potato
species also flower and form small tomato-like berries on their
above-ground branches.

http://www.grida.no/cgiar/awpack/diversit.htm
http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut...roduction.html
http://plants.gardenbed.com/65/6421_edi.asp
http://www.zum.de/stueber/ross/potato/herbarium_Ia.html
http://www.zum.de/stueber/ross/potato/herbarium_Ib.html
http://www.zum.de/stueber/ross/potato/herbarium_II.html
http://www.zum.de/stueber/ross/potat...arium_III.html
http://www.zum.de/stueber/ross/potato/supplement_A.html[lists of wild potato collections]

other misc. links.
http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/Workgroup...solanaceae.htm
http://newcrop.hort.purdue.edu/newcr...99/v4-379.html
http://www.keil.ukans.edu/delta/angio/www/solanace.htm
http://www.ume.maine.edu/PAA/abstramgen2001.htm
http://www.ars-grin.gov/ars/MidWest/NR6/ar99.html

cheers