Solanum corneliomulleri

joseph · May 22, 2016

Solanum corneliomulleri:

jmsieglaff · May 22, 2016

Interesting looking plant, is this for attempting to cross with tomatoes? It looks rather stout, but it might just be the angle.

joseph · May 22, 2016

My tomatoes are all stout right now. They are growing at night-time temperatures just above freezing, and daytime temperatures not much warmer... I irrigate twice daily with a high pressure hose blasting horizontally at them.

I'm using the wild species to attempt some manual pollinations with domestic tomatoes... I'm also planting a few patches of assorted species of wild tomatoes together, in an Alan Kapuler style grex, in an attempt to mix up the genetics. I may use some of the interspecies crosses for plant breeding later on.

joseph · July 3, 2016

Solanum corneliomulleri. Flowers have a very exerted stigma.

jmsieglaff · July 3, 2016

Nice photo Joseph! Thanks for sharing the different species, it's neat to see the variations.

joseph · July 10, 2016

The stigma is exerted a long time before pollen is viable. Therefore, the stigma won't be getting pollinated while the stigma is expanding to exit the anther cone. What a wonderful trait for a promiscuous pollination project.

joseph · August 8, 2016

A Solanum corneliomulleri plant is in approximately the center of the photo. S. pennellii to the right, and S. peruvianum, and S. habrochaites in the background.

joseph · October 27, 2016

I grew about 18 Solanum corneliomulleri plants this summer. The plants were small compared to some of the other wild species. Fruit set was very low. I collected about 2 tablespoons of fruits from the plants. It looks like at least some of them have seeds in them. Yay! So far, so good. Last year I didn't find any viable seeds on about 6 plants.

They were growing in a garden that also contained domestic tomatoes, S. pennellii, S. habrochaites, S. pimpinellifolium, and S. peruvianum. The flowers are unobtrusive, so were not as attractive to pollinators as S. habrochaites and S. peruvianum. I attempted to pollinate the flowers with pollen from the other species, and there was low-level pollinator visits.

Here's what the fruits look like:

High Resolution

Gardeneer · October 30, 2016

Looks like an easy target to cross/hybridize .

StrongPlant · October 31, 2016

Beautiful species,looks really elegant and delicate.The flowers look almost the same as in domestic tomato,and the entire plant reminds me most of hairless-type S.Pimpinellifolium.

FredB · October 31, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Looks like an easy target to cross/hybridize .

Maybe not. The ones with the big flowers and external stigmas are usually self-incompatible, which means they are very picky about their pollination and will drop their fruit at the least excuse. I've had poor success with S. habrochaites (in the same group as S. corneliomulleri) and no success at all with S. corneliomulleri.

Joseph - Any comments about how the foliage smells? I recall the one specimen of S. corneliomulleri that I grew last year had a distinct acrid smell. S. habrochaites also has a strong smell. I'm not sure how I'd describe it - there doesn't seem to be a good English vocabulary for smells. I know that if I brush against a habrochaites plant I'll carry the smell around for hours. Incidentally, habrochaites seems to be a magnet for whiteflies. My habrochaites plants will be covered with whiteflies when I'll barely find any on my standard tomatoes. I presume the flies like the smell.

Fred

PhilaGardener · October 31, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by joseph

They were growing in a garden that also contained domestic tomatoes, S. pennellii, S. habrochaites, S. pimpinellifolium, and S. peruvianum. The flowers are unobtrusive, so were not as attractive to pollinators as S. habrochaites and S. peruvianum. I attempted to pollinate the flowers with pollen from the other species, and there was low-level pollinator visits.

Is it better to use self-incompatible species as pollen donors to self-compatible species' flowers in crosses because the style tissue determines whether pollen tubes grow or not? I can see that you don't have the selfing barrier to help you get the outcross, but the benefit might outweigh that disadvantage.

joseph · November 7, 2016

I've been paying attention to the smells of the wild tomatoes. They seem to be variable, even within the same species. I can't really say, "That's the habrochaites smell", or "That's the corneliomulleri smell".

Pollen flow is from the self-incompatible species to the self-compatible species. Next year I expect to try to retrieve self-incompatibility both through selection among the F2, and via back-crossing to the wild species. In any case, selection for facultative-outcrossers seems easily achievable.

joseph · November 7, 2016

This S. corneliomulerri plant survived the early spring frosts, and it is growing well this fall. The domestic tomatoes are mostly dead. The vines of S. corneliomulleri died back, but it is sending lots of new vines up from the base of the plant.

S. corneliomulleri showing fall frost tolerance.

joseph · November 20, 2017

I grew Solanum corneliomulleri in 2017, planting from seeds that were grown on my farm in 2016. The plants were again small plants, that grew moderately, but they set fruit abundantly. I collected a lot of fruit, and thousands of seeds. Yay! Looks like I'm well on the way to growing the species reliably on my farm. If germination is at all decent I expect to share seed in a month or two.

Now what to do with it? Hybridize it with Solanum peruvianum?

May 22, 2016	#1
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	Solanum corneliomulleri Solanum corneliomulleri:

October 27, 2016	#8
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	I grew about 18 Solanum corneliomulleri plants this summer. The plants were small compared to some of the other wild species. Fruit set was very low. I collected about 2 tablespoons of fruits from the plants. It looks like at least some of them have seeds in them. Yay! So far, so good. Last year I didn't find any viable seeds on about 6 plants. They were growing in a garden that also contained domestic tomatoes, S. pennellii, S. habrochaites, S. pimpinellifolium, and S. peruvianum. The flowers are unobtrusive, so were not as attractive to pollinators as S. habrochaites and S. peruvianum. I attempted to pollinate the flowers with pollen from the other species, and there was low-level pollinator visits. Here's what the fruits look like: High Resolution Last edited by joseph; October 27, 2016 at 11:46 PM.

October 30, 2016	#9
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,919	Looks like an easy target to cross/hybridize . __________________ Gardeneer Happy Gardening !

November 7, 2016	#13
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	I've been paying attention to the smells of the wild tomatoes. They seem to be variable, even within the same species. I can't really say, "That's the habrochaites smell", or "That's the corneliomulleri smell". Pollen flow is from the self-incompatible species to the self-compatible species. Next year I expect to try to retrieve self-incompatibility both through selection among the F2, and via back-crossing to the wild species. In any case, selection for facultative-outcrossers seems easily achievable. Last edited by joseph; November 7, 2016 at 02:03 AM.

May 22, 2016	#2
jmsieglaff Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Southern WI Posts: 2,742	Interesting looking plant, is this for attempting to cross with tomatoes? It looks rather stout, but it might just be the angle.

July 3, 2016	#4
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	Solanum corneliomulleri. Flowers have a very exerted stigma.

July 10, 2016	#6
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	The stigma is exerted a long time before pollen is viable. Therefore, the stigma won't be getting pollinated while the stigma is expanding to exit the anther cone. What a wonderful trait for a promiscuous pollination project.

August 8, 2016	#7
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	A Solanum corneliomulleri plant is in approximately the center of the photo. S. pennellii to the right, and S. peruvianum, and S. habrochaites in the background.

October 31, 2016	#10
StrongPlant Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Europe/Serbia-Belgrade Posts: 151	Beautiful species,looks really elegant and delicate.The flowers look almost the same as in domestic tomato,and the entire plant reminds me most of hairless-type S.Pimpinellifolium.

November 20, 2017	#15
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	I grew Solanum corneliomulleri in 2017, planting from seeds that were grown on my farm in 2016. The plants were again small plants, that grew moderately, but they set fruit abundantly. I collected a lot of fruit, and thousands of seeds. Yay! Looks like I'm well on the way to growing the species reliably on my farm. If germination is at all decent I expect to share seed in a month or two. Now what to do with it? Hybridize it with Solanum peruvianum?