Eggplant
Solanum melongena L.
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 91 cm
- wide
- 61 cm
Solanaceae
Also called Aubergine, Brinjal, Guinea squash, Brown Jolly
When it flowers
Flowers June to March in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- ShrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Wet tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- W. Indian Ocean, Trop. & Subtrop. AsiaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 61 cm to 1.2 mRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Spread
- 30 cm to 91 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- PurpleRead from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: coldest it survives, heat, hottest it survives.
Grow it with
Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.
Australian Umbrella TreeFlowers April to May, when this does not
Banana passionfruitFlowers April to May, when this does not
Bengal clock vineFlowers April to May, when this does not
Bitter MelonFlowers April to May, when this does not
Bleeding heart vineFlowers April to May, when this does not
Blue Trumpet VineFlowers April to May, when this does not
In other languages (12)
- French
- aubergine
- Chinese
- 茄子, 矮瓜, 茄子 (矮瓜)
- Portuguese
- Beringela, Berinjela
- Spanish
- Berenjena
- Hebrew
- חציל
- Czech
- lilek vejcoplodý
- Finnish
- patamunakoiso, munakoiso
- Japanese
- ナス, nasu
- Russian
- Баклажан
- Indonesian
- Terong
- Catalan
- Alberginiera
- Chinese (China)
- 茄子, 矮瓜, 茄瓜
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Solanum melongena (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.