View source for Solanum melongena

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Solanaceae
|genus=Solanum
|species=melongena
|common_name=Aubergine, Eggplant, Jew's apple
|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|habit=herbaceous
|habit_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|Max ht box=36
|Max ht metric=in
|height_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|Max wd box=24
|Max wd metric=in
|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|lifespan=perennial, annual
|life_ref=Wikipedia
|exposure=sun
|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|features=edible, fruit
|flowers=blue, purple
|Temp Metric=°F
|min_zone=9
|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|max_zone=12
|image=Solanum melongena ja02.jpg
|image_width=200
}}
The '''eggplant''', '''aubergine''', '''melongene''' or '''brinjal''' (''Solanum melongena'') is a plant of the family ''[[Solanaceae]]'' (also known as the nightshades) and genus ''[[Solanum]]''. It bears a [[fruit]] of the same name, commonly used as a [[vegetable]] in cooking. As a [[nightshade]], it is closely related to the [[tomato]] and [[potato]] and is native to [[Nepal]], [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Sri Lanka]]. 

It is a delicate [[perennial plant|perennial]] often cultivated as an [[annual plant|annual]]. It grows 40 to 150&nbsp;cm (16 to 57 in) tall, with large coarsely lobed [[leaf|leaves]] that are 10 to 20&nbsp;cm (4–8&nbsp;in) long and 5 to 10&nbsp;cm (2–4&nbsp;in) broad.  (Semi-)wild types can grow much larger, to 225&nbsp;cm (7&nbsp;ft) with large leaves over 30&nbsp;cm (12&nbsp;in) long and 15&nbsp;cm (6&nbsp;in) broad.  The stem is often [[spine (botany)|spiny]]. The [[flower]]s are white to purple, with a five-lobed [[Corolla (flower)|corolla]] and yellow [[stamen]]s. The [[fruit]] is fleshy, less than 3&nbsp;cm in diameter on wild plants, but much larger in cultivated forms.  

The fruit is botanically classified as a [[berry]], and contains numerous small, soft [[seed]]s, which are edible, but are bitter because they contain (an insignificant amount of) [[nicotine|nicotinoid]] [[alkaloid]]s, unsurprising as it is a close relative of [[tobacco]].

{{Inc|
Solanum melongena, Linn. (S. insanum, Linn.). Erect and much-branched herb or subshrub, 2-3 ft. tall, woolly or scurfy, spiny: lvs. large and heavy, ovate or oblong-ovate, becoming nearly glabrous above but remaining densely tomentose beneath, shallowly sinuate-lobed: fls. large, mostly in clusters, the calyx woolly and often spiny, the spreading, deeply lobed, purplish corolla 1 in. or more across: fr. a large berry. Afr. and S. Asia. Original habitat probably S. W. Asia.

Var. esculentum, Nees (S. esculentum and S. ovigerum, Dun.). Common Eggplant. Guinea Squash. Aubergine. Cult. for its large frs., which are usually oblong, obovoid, or egg-shape in form, and purple, white, yellowish or striped: differs from the wild plant in having fewer spines, mostly solitary fls., and much larger and more variable frs. There are 2 well-marked subvarieties: var. serpentinum, Bailey. Snake Eggplant. Fr. greatly elongated and curled at the end. Var. depressum, Bailey. Dwarf Purple Eggplant. Low and diffuse, many of the branches finally resting on the ground, usually dark-colored, nearly glabrous and always spiny: lvs. small and relatively thin, less lobed: fls. small and longer stalked: fr. purple, pyriform. See Eggplant.
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