Changes

*''Solanum betaceum'' Cav. (1799).

*Tree tomato (En). *Tomate en arbre (Fr). *Tamarillo (commercial fruit name)

*Brittle shrub or tree, 2-3(-8) m tall, trunk short, branches thick. *Leaves alternate, simple, cordate-ovate, 10-35 cm × 4-20 cm, entire, soft pubescent, prominently veined, short-pointed, usually near the shoot tips, muskily odorous; petiole 7-10 cm long. *Flowers in small, loose axillary clusters near branch tips, pink to light blue, fragrant, about 1 cm diameter, 5-merous; corolla bell-shaped, 5-lobed; stamens 5, on throat of corolla, anthers connivent in a cone about the pistil; ovary 2-celled, many ovules, stigma small. *Fruit an obovoid or ovoid berry, 3-10 cm × 3-5 cm, pointed at both ends, pendent, long stalked, with persistent calyx; skin thin, smooth, purple-reddish, orange-red to yellowish; flesh juicy, subacid to sweet, blackish to yellowish. *Seeds circular, flat, thin, hard.

Orchards need to be well-drained; often the trees are planted on hills or ridges. Because of the shallow root system, deep cultivation should be avoided but mulching is very beneficial. Young seedling trees are cut back to a height of about 1 m to encourage branching, and each year the plants are pruned at the beginning of the crop cycle. This annual pruning consists of cutting back and thinning out the branches that have fruited in order to rejuvenate the bearing wood and to limit tree spread. Time of pruning influences harvest time. For soils of low fertility in New Zealand the fertilizer recommendations are in the order of 110-170 kg N, 35-55 kg P₂O₅and 100-200 kg K₂O per year. Application is split in a basal dressing just before pruning to stimulate shoot growth, and a top dressing after the last fruits have set to stimulate fruit growth. In the tropics using a generous amount of organic matter and manure when making the hills for planting minimizes the need for additional fertilizer. Irrigation during the dry season is important to sustain growth and to improve fruit size and yield.

The main problems are caused by virus infections, including tree tomato mosaic, cucumber mosaic, Arabis mosaic and one or several unidentified viruses. The viruses spread rapidly - aphids are probably the main vectors - leading to the decline of the orchard. Healthy plants (from seed), grown as far away as possible from older plants, strict orchard hygiene and control of vectors are the principal means of keeping the viruses at bay. Root knot nematodes ( ''Meloidogyne'' spp.) are also serious and in combination with viruses they result in stunted, unproductive plants; high temperature and moisture stress aggravate matters.

There are a few fungus diseases of which powdery mildew is generally the most troublesome. If serious, it causes the oldest leaves to be shed prematurely. It can be controlled by regular treatment with sulphur or more specific fungicides; the alternative is to maintain a high enough growth rate to offset the loss of leaves. Little can be done to control bacterial blast caused by ''Pseudomonas syringae'' .