In the 1550s, a nature expert named Ulisse Aldrovandi saved the oldest tomato plant in Europe in a big book with 16 parts called a herbarium. Sadly, he couldn’t save the actual tomato.
Researchers said, ‘In the 1500s, most collections of plants didn’t have saved tomatoes. Juicy tomatoes are hard to press because they are big, lose their shape, and quickly get moldy due to their wetness.’
After a few years, another plant expert, Francesco Petrollini, saved a tomato in the En Tibi Herbarium. This special book is now 463 years old and has 473 dry plant pictures. This time, Petrollini cleverly included one of the tomato fruits.
Petrollini’s first tomato had only a baby fruit. But when he was putting it in the En Tibi herbarium, he skillfully took out the wet insides of the tomato and pressed the skin to show its round shape. @{sylvia@vintageseedco.com} What interesting facts do you know about tomatoes?