Tomato

fruit · garden · history · nightshade family

Berries in disguise. Tomatoes are actually berries, even though we eat them like vegetables. A berry is the fleshy fruit that grows from a flower after it's pollinated.

From South America. Tomatoes started growing wild in western South America and were later grown by people living in Mexico and Central America thousands of years ago.

Spanish explorers spread them. When Spanish explorers traveled to the Americas in the 1500s, they brought tomato seeds back to Europe, Asia, and Africa, changing what people ate around the whole world.

Nightshade cousins. Tomatoes belong to the nightshade family, which also includes potatoes, peppers, and tobacco. These plants all have similar flowers and growing patterns.

Vegetable or fruit. Even though tomatoes are technically berries, people call them vegetables because we use them in savory dishes instead of sweet desserts.