Flora of New Zealand Series

tamarillo

Large shrub or small tree with pale bark, to c. 3 m high, with short glandular hairs, especially on young parts. Petiole to c. 10 cm long, sometimes to c. 25 cm on large juvenile lvs. Lamina mostly 8-20 × 5-11 cm but larger on some young plants, ovate-oblong to broad-ovate, densely clothed in short glandular hairs to glabrous beneath, entire, foetid, purple-tinged when young; base deeply cordate; apex acute to shortly acuminate. Cymes with up to 15, ± pendent fls. Calyx 4-5 mm long; teeth shallow. Corolla 1.3-1.6 cm long, pale pink, darker in bud; lobes narrow-lanceolate or narrow-triangular, much > tube, densely ciliolate. Stamens included; anthers opening by pores. Stigma small. Fr. (4)-5-7 cm long, ovoid or broad-ovoid, pendulous, edible; skin and pulp usually dark red, rarely yellow.

N.: N. Auckland, Auckland City, Bay of Plenty, Tokomapuna Id near Kapiti Id; K.: Raoul Id.

Andes 1983

Waste places, rubbish dumps, forest clearings or margins near dwellings.

FL Jan-Dec.

Tamarillo or tree tomato is now extensively cultivated in warmer parts of the North Id and Nelson, and occasionally in other areas where frosts are very light; the edible frs have become standard winter fare and seeds are freely produced. Presumably, birds occasionally act as dispersal agents. Several cvs are grown in N.Z. and they are largely defined by differences in fr. size, shape and colour, the original introduction having smaller and darker red frs than our modern tamarillos. These features are rarely observable on herbarium specimens so the description here includes most of the variation in cultivation in N.Z.