It's obligatory to note this when it comes up: tomatoes are in the nightshade [1] family. The greens and fruits of many nightshades are poisonous.
The obvious kinship is probably best demonstrated visually.
The common tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gc5_tomatoes.jpg
The currant tomato, also edible and close wild relative of the tomato (Solanum pimpinellifolium): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Botanisk_tidsskrif...
Belladonna, toxic (Atropa belladonna): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atropa_belladonna_...
Datura, toxic (Datura stramonium): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Datura_stramonium_...
Mandrake greens and flowers, toxic (Mandragora autumnalis): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mandragora_autumna...
Mandrake fruit, toxic: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mandragora_autumna...
I have only a layman's interest in botany so I lack the vocabulary to describe it well. But a tomato plant has the overall structure of a datura plant, bushy, similar stalks, similar pattern. The leaves look a lot like belladonna, datura or mandrake. The flowers look like diminutive mandrake flowers. The fruit looks a lot like mandrake fruit.
If I had never heard of tomatoes, the close family resemblance would make me very reluctant to eat one.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanaceae
The obvious kinship is probably best demonstrated visually.
The common tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gc5_tomatoes.jpg
The currant tomato, also edible and close wild relative of the tomato (Solanum pimpinellifolium): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Botanisk_tidsskrif...
Belladonna, toxic (Atropa belladonna): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atropa_belladonna_...
Datura, toxic (Datura stramonium): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Datura_stramonium_...
Mandrake greens and flowers, toxic (Mandragora autumnalis): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mandragora_autumna...
Mandrake fruit, toxic: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mandragora_autumna...
I have only a layman's interest in botany so I lack the vocabulary to describe it well. But a tomato plant has the overall structure of a datura plant, bushy, similar stalks, similar pattern. The leaves look a lot like belladonna, datura or mandrake. The flowers look like diminutive mandrake flowers. The fruit looks a lot like mandrake fruit.
If I had never heard of tomatoes, the close family resemblance would make me very reluctant to eat one.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanaceae