ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell Plantations and the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University have created a special garden that displays genetic diversity from bitter to sweet by tracing the history and development of the tomato.

The still-growing exhibit contains 53 different genotypes of tomato, including several wild species that bear little resemblance to modern tomatoes. It is open to the public at Plantations' Pounder Heritage Vegetable Garden.

Plantations horticulturists designed the tomato project to help visitors develop a better understanding of how wild plants have been domesticated to produce higher yields, better flavor and color and improved pest resistance. Interpretive signs explain the basics of plant breeding and the various techniques that growers and scientists have developed to improve the tomato.

By examining the plants and reading the interpretive signs, visitors to the tomato exhibit can learn how genes control inheritance of specific tomato traits, how genetic changes occur in the tomato -- both naturally and through plant breeding -- and how genetic diversity of the tomato has contributed to its widespread distribution and success as a vegetable crop.

One interpretive panel describes contemporary techniques for manipulating genes between plants. (However, no genetically modified plants are included in the exhibit.) The tomatoes on display come in a variety of colors and shapes, and selections range in origin from wild species to heirloom varieties to modern cultivars.

The heritage garden and visitor parking are located near the Cornell Plantations headquarters building, along Plantations Road, between Forest Home Drive and Judd Falls Road.

Cornell Plantations grounds are open to the public, free of charge, from dawn to dark each day. More information is available by calling (607) 255-3020 or by visiting the website http://www.plantations.cornell.edu.