Solanum melongenaL.

aubergineeggplant

WFO wfo-0001029464 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Solanum melongena, photographed by bgirardot
fig. a bgirardot, CC0 1.0 / 2020-07-31 / obs. 87451145
Solanum melongena, photographed by Swarochi Tathagath
fig. b Swarochi Tathagath, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 82131938
Solanum melongena, photographed by Vreni Gem O. Caasi
fig. c Vreni Gem O. Caasi, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69576766
Solanum melongena, photographed by 葉子
fig. d 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 59383096
Solanum melongena, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. e Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 55236107
Solanum melongena, photographed by Leonard Worthington
fig. f Leonard Worthington, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 53246422
Solanum melongena, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. g Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 131229882
Solanum melongena, photographed by Greg III Espera
fig. h Greg III Espera, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 179091389

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 24 botanical countries

Regions where Solanum melongena is native: Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya MadagascarChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanAssamBangladeshBorneoEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiThailandVietnamWest Himalaya MauritiusRéunionSouth China Sea
Native distribution of Solanum melongena, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
South China Sea SCS
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Madagascar MDG AFRICA
Mauritius MAU
Réunion REU
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 87 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • 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. ex Wall.
  • Solanum longum Roxb.
  • Solanum melanoxylon Link
  • Solanum melongena subsp. agreste Dikii
  • Solanum melongena subsp. agrestis Filov
  • Solanum melongena subsp. melongena

and 63 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.