Solanaceae

Eggplant

Solanum melongena L.

Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum

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Eggplant (Solanum melongena) — FlowerPhoto: Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (39)

acm: باذنجان, بيتنجان
Afrikaans: Eiervrug
Arabic: باذنجان بري, خروع بري, شبيط
Armenian: Բադրիջան, Մանծակ, Պորինջան
Asturian: Berenxenera
Bangla: বার্তাকু
Basque: Berenjena
Catalan: Albergínia
Central Kurdish: بانجان
Chinese: 吊菜子, 白茄, 矮瓜, 紫茄, 茄, 茄叶, 茄子, 茄子根
Czech: Lilek vejcoplodý, Baklažán
Dutch: White Eggplant
English: Eggplant, Aubergine, Brinjal, Eggfruit, Guinea squash, Mad apple, Melongene, Purple cucumber
Finnish: Patamunakoiso
French: Aubergine blanche, Aubergine graffiti, Aubergine longue, Aubergine ronde, Aubergine violette
German: Eierfrucht, Eierpflanze, Melanzani
Greek: Βαζάνι
Hungarian: Tojásgyümölcs
Italian: Melanzana, Melenzana
Japanese: 茄子
Kazakh: Баклажан, Жертатақ
kcg: A̱sai-ga̱shyuo
lah: بینگن, بینگݨ
Malagasy: Bana
Malay: Terung biru, Terung cina, Terung hijau, Terung manis, Terung ungu
Malayalam: എഗ്ഗ് പ്ലാന്റ്, ബ്രിഞ്ജാൾ
Norwegian Nynorsk: Eggfrukt, Eggplante
nqo: ߜߎ߬ߛߎ߲߬ߖߊ߯ߘߏ
os: Бадырджан
Persian: بادمجانبابب
Polish: Bakman, Bakłażan, Gruszka miłosna, Jajko krzewiaste, Oberżyna
Romanian: Vânătă
Russian: Бадриджан, Бубриджан, Демьянка, Паслён тёмноплодный, Синенький
shn: မၢၵ်ႇၶိူဝ်
Sindhi: ايگ فروٽ, ايگ پلانٽ, برنجال, بينگن, ميڊ ايپل, گني اسڪئاش
Slovenian: Jajčevec, Melancan, Melancana
Tigrinya: ባዚንጀን
Welsh: Wylys
wuu: 酪苏, 酪酥

Synonyms

Melongena esculenta (Dunal) Grecescu
Melongena incurva Mill.
Melongena ovata Mill.
Melongena spinosa Mill.
Melongena teres Mill.
Solanum aethiopicum var. violaceum Dunal
Solanum album Noronha
Solanum album Lour.
Solanum album var. richardii Dunal
Solanum album var. rumphii Dunal
Solanum edule Schumach. & Thonn.
Solanum edule var. edule
Solanum edule var. multifidum Dunal
Solanum esculentum Dunal
Solanum esculentum var. aculeatum Dunal
Solanum esculentum var. inerme Dunal
Solanum esculentum var. subinerme Dunal
Solanum lagenarium Dunal
Solanum longum Roxb.
Solanum longum Roxb. ex Wall.
Solanum melanoxylon Link
Solanum melongena subsp. agreste Dikii
Solanum melongena subsp. agrestis Filov
Solanum melongena subsp. melongena
Solanum melongena subsp. meridionale Filov
Solanum melongena subsp. orientale Filov
Solanum melongena subsp. subspontaneum Filov
Solanum melongena var. americanum Filov
Solanum melongena var. angustum Dikii
Solanum melongena var. arabicum Filov
Solanum melongena var. azerbaijanicum Filov
Solanum melongena var. bulgaricum Filov
Solanum melongena var. cylindricum Dikii
Solanum melongena var. esculentum (Dunal) Walp.
Solanum melongena var. europaeum Filov
Solanum melongena var. giganteum (Alef.) Dikii
Solanum melongena var. globosi Dikii
Solanum melongena var. inerme (Dunal) Hiern
Solanum melongena var. leucojum Alef.
Solanum melongena var. leucoum (Alef.) Dikii

and 47 more.

Flowers

In flower: May, July to March (from 79 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Forb/herb, Subshrub
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Lower 48 states: introduced, Pacific Basin: introduced, Puerto Rico: introduced

Toxicity: Slight, as listed by the USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29). USDA rates how toxic a plant is to people or livestock; it is not a pet-safety rating, so ask a vet or poison line if a pet or child ate it.

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Ian Cowie, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: sdash, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Joydeep, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Joanbanjo, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Manuëlle, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Manidip Mandal, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Miguel Zamarro, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: 胡正恆(Jackson Hu), CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Yvan St-Hilaire, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF

More in Solanum

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.