Table 1.
Equivalence between the classification of [23], [29] and the species recognised here1.
Figure 1.
Representative flower and fruit morphology of eggplant and its wild relatives.
A. Solanum campylacanthum inflorescences (Kenya - Vorontsova et al. 157); B. Solanum incanum immature fruit (Kenya – Vorontsova et al. 203); C. Solanum insanum fruit cross-section (China – Wang et al. 2047); D. Solanum insanum inflorescence with several hermaphrodite flowers (China – Wang et al. 2039); E. Solanum linnaeanum with yellow mature and mottled green immature fruit, note highly dissected leaves (Spain - Knapp IM-10096); F. Solanum melongena flower with duplicated parts (China – Wang et al. 2042). Photographs: A, B taken M.S. Vorontsova; C, D, E, F taken by S. Knapp.
Table 2.
Key vegetative differences of eggplants and wild relatives.
Table 3.
Character suite for distinguishing ambiguous specimens of S. insanum and S. melongena.
Figure 2.
A sample of form and leaf variation in Solanum campylacanthum A.Rich. from across its morphological and geographical range showing the cline in leaf shape from south to north.
A. Habit with narrow elliptic leaves. B. Habit with small leaves, small flowers, and dense curved prickles. C. Habit with ovate leaves and no prickles. D. Habit with large prickles and multiple fruits per infructescence. E. Habit with lobed leaves. F. Habit with cordate leaves. G. Short-stalked trichome from abaxial side of leaf. (Based on: A, Mott 11B, country; B, Gilfillan 6056, country; C, Torre 7145, Mozambique; D, Stewart E33, country; E, G, Friis et al. 8107, Ethiopia; F, Friis 8505, Ethiopia) Scale bar: A–F = 4 cm; G = 0.4 mm. Drawn by Lucy T. Smith.
Figure 3.
Fruit shape and colour variation in cultivars of the common eggplant, Solanum melongena. Photograph taken by J. Prohens.