Cherokee Purple is an heirloom variety of tomato that develops a fruit with a deep, dusky-rose color while maintaining a somewhat greenish hue near the stem when mature for eating.

[1][2][3] LeHoullier distributed Cherokee Purple seeds to several market growers and one of them, Alex Hitt, who lived in North Carolina, had an immediate success growing and selling the tomato despite its ugly appearance.

"[4] In 2014, Cherokee Purple was named one of the top ten tomato heirloom varieties by the Seed Savers Exchange.

In 1995, a skin color mutation of Cherokee Purple arose in Craig LeHoullier's North Carolina garden.

It was named Cherokee Chocolate, and the yellow skin gives the variety a brownish mahogany hue.