Know your eggplants - Pt3 - European and American types

American and European eggplants almost exclusively belong to the species Solanum melongena L. Many authors have attempted to classified them, sort them in groups, but this is rather difficult due to the tremendous variety of shapes, sizes and colours (although they are less colourful than Asian and African types). The best that one can do is sort them by groups. An example of group classification, among others, follows.

The small round-shaped (Rotondatum Group)

Catalogues call those "Cherry type" or "Cherry size" for obvious reasons.

Of course as it is far too often the case some round-fruited cultivars are not in the " round-fruited group". The reason is that their size is more significant than their shape so they are placed in the Giganteum Group. This group is almost entirely composed of Asian cultivars.

Reproduced from flickr with permission from copyright owner Christen Taylor

A most impressive display of 'Prosperosa' captured by Kristen Taylor at D.C. Dupont Circle market.
This variety is on the borderline, too large to be here, too small to be included into the Giganteum Group.

The egg-shaped (Ovigerum Group)

These are mostly represented by the Japanese cultivars such as Black Egg, White Egg (白卵形なす), Thai cultivars such as Yellow Egg, and Indian cultivars such as Egg Red but there are shades of these and other colours as well. 'Ophelia' (darker purple below) is one of the European cultivars. Catalogues call those "Egg type" for obvious reasons.




Reproduced from flickr with permission from the copyright owner: Wendy Moody	Reproduced from flickr with permission from the copyright owner: Candy Crabill	Reproduced from flickr with permission from the copyright owner: Jodi Mowery

Top mark for creativity in making the point	Top mark for creativity in making the point	Top mark for creativity in making the point

The large round-fruited or semi-oblong (Giganteum Group)

These are overwhelmingly represented by the Western types of eggplants. They are the large dark purple fruits of the supermarkets, and fresh markets of Europe and America. Some attractively coloured fruits from Italy, America and Asia such as the white, green and pink examples below feature in this group. Catalogues and the trade consider those "normal eggplants" so they don't name them in any particular way, apart from using the cultivar name itself. There is a strong tendency in horticulture to replace those names by numbers, especially when referring to hybrids and GE varieties, something that as a lexicographer I dislike very strongly because it denies any sense of culture and tradition. This is understandable since those concepts are becoming obsolete in the brave new world order. I have to admit my bias here, I have deliberately left out any cultivar identified by just a number. Sometimes catalogues use expressions like "Enorma type" based on a better known cultivar, in order to identify those eggplants with more precision within this large group.

Variations on a theme

Reproduced from flickr with permission from copyright owner Laurel F. Stewart

An off-type of Rosa Bianca "Pink Beauty"?

a "Violet Beauty"
labelled as 'Rosa Bianca' by Terroir Seeds and others

Apologies
we are trying to find the copyright owner of this beautiful shot. Any help appreciated.

Reproduced with permission from SicilPlants Italy

'Black Beauty' Selection 'Baffa'

Reproduced from an original with permission of copyright owner Eran Finkle from flickr

A recurring form of 'Black Beauty'

Reproduced from flickr with permission of copyright owner Michel H. Porcher
A form of something well known but still looking for an identity. 'Violetta di Firenze' ?

Reproduced from an original with permission of copyright owner Eran Finkle from flickr

A recurring form of 'Black Beauty'



青茄子	'Black Bell'	大丸なす


'Tonda Romanesca'	白茄子	'Seta' Photo credit Piante e Passione

The short or elongated fruits (Oblongatum Group)

In this group we find cultivars from both the East and the West. Many of the most attractively coloured fruits are in this group. To describe those, catalogues and the trade use expressions like "cluster type" or "Calliope type", based on a better known type or cultivar name within a particular trading circle. These fruits usually range in size from 3 to 8 inches in length.


'Long Purple' 6 to 8 inches long. Photo credit Southern Exposure	'Lavender Touch' 5 to 7 inches long Photo credit Park Seeds	'Antigua' 8 inches long Photo credits Long Island Seed Project

'Louisiana Long Green' 6 to 9 inches long Photo credit Reimer Seeds	'Rosita' 5 to 7 inches long Photo credit Southern Exposure	'Neon' 6 to 8 inches long Photo credit Seeds by Design

'Orient Charm' 8 to 10 inches long Photo credit Green Earth Growers	'Calliope' 4 inches Reproduced from flickr with permission from the copyright owner: Louise	Japanese Oblong 長なす

'White Beauty' 5 to 6 inches long Photo credit Southern Exposure	'Lavender Long' 5 to 6 inches long	'Chinese Long Purple' 4 inches Photo credits Long Island Seed Project

The long-fruited (Cylindricum Group)

These are mostly represented by the Asian cultivars, Chinese in particular, but also a few Thai and one or two Italian. Consequently catalogues and the trade tend to name those after their country of origin. A Thai long type of a Chinese long type. These fruits range from 10 to 18 inches in length.

大长茄子
30 to 45 cm

(12 to 18 inches)

大長なす

40 to 45 cm

(16 to 18 inches)

25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 inches)

American and European cultivars on the world market

The intention in displaying the following table is to demonstrate that there is more to eggplants than the dark purple monsters from the supermarkets and to show a basic array of shapes and colours by naming a few cultivars. There are thousands more so they would not fit into a single table. A proper place would be a good searchable database. When we find one that we like we will let you know. We have collected far more data than was required for these articles. We will replace the tables in these articles by better more comprehensive records for each cultivar. This requires several more months in order to get clearance from various seed companies. If you are a programmer and good at handling databases we would like to talk to you. Together we may come up with something suitable. We have listed Asian and African cultivars in separate tables in their respective articles.

We have done our best trying to identify every cultivar mentioned. If we have made mistakes please tell us. We have not discriminated between so called organic source of seeds and others in order to offer the broad spectrum of what is available in the world. Some of the companies listed are not seed companies but sources of material. They could be selling seedlings or even produce. We are happy to point them out for they are part of the lesser known "eggplant world". Again if we missed something please tell us, we will update this table promptly.

This is not a print publication but a live interactive guide. Comments are very welcome, we thrive on them - send mail to m.porcher@unimelb.edu.au

Botanical identification

(proposed)

Cultivar name / Vernacular name

Descriptive info.

(various sources)

Photo of cultivar or type if available

Solanum melongena L.	Antigua	Italian cultivar. 2'' x 6" beautiful, creamy white fruits with lilac-purple streaks. Flesh is extremely mild and bitter free. 90 days. Available: Tomato Growers, Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Applegreen	Apple-green, medium-sized fruits. Tender skin doesn't require peeling. Choice variety for cool-season areas. 62 to 70 days. Available: Seed Savers Exchange, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Seeds by Design
	Baby Bell F1	The 30 cm high plants bear lots of jet black spine free fruits. Available: Nicky's Nursery
	Baby Rosanna F1	24 inches plant suitable for tub growing. Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd
	Baby Marbled	3-4" lavendar fruits with apple green and white striping. 80 days. Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Bianca Oval	Italian variety with 3'' white fruits. 75 days. Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Black Beauty aka Bellezza Nera aka Belleza Negra	Plant may produce 10 to 15 fruits 6-1/2"" long by 5"" diameter. Fruits can be large but best harvested when smaller. 72 to 85 days. Available: Semi Al Portico, Nicky's Nursery, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Seeds by Design, Park Seeds, Fratelli Ingegnoli S.p.a, Anseme S.p.a. Italy, Sementi Fuscello Gianfranco, Ktima Bioma
	Black Egg	An early Japanese cultivar with small, tender, egg-shaped or pear-shaped fruits about 5 inches long. The 3 foot tall plant is somewhat tolerant of flea beetles, its foliage is green with purple veins. 65 to 75 days. Available: Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Seeds by Design, Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Black Enorma F1	30 inches plant. 75 days. Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd
	Blush	Creamy-white inside and out, with a lavender blush when ripe. Fine-flavoured flesh, 85 days. Available : Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
	Calliope F1	Oval white and purple striped fruit. 75 days. Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd
	Casper	Shiny ivory white fruits are 6 inches by 2.5. 70 to 75 days. Available: Seeds by Design
	Clara F1	Slightly elongated egg-shaped white fruits 6 to 8 cm, 100g each.
	Cloud Nine	7" (17 cm) long pure white teardrop shaped eggplants. Eggplant has bitter-free taste and has white flesh. 65 to 75 days. Available: Reimer Seeds, Tradewinds Fruit, Seeds of India
	Crescent Moon	All white fruit. Available: Burpee
	Fairy Tale	Petite plant with decorative miniature eggplants white with violet/purple stripes. The fruit are sweet, non-bitter, with a tender skin and few seeds. 49 to 51 days Available: Nicky's Nursery, Park Seeds
	Farmers Long F1	Long slender purple-veined fruits 30 cm long and 3 cm in diameter. White tender flesh with excellent flavour. Early producing plant tolerant of bacterial wilt. Available: Nicky's Nursery
	Florentine Silk	Pink-lavender fruits are medium size, and grooved with white shading on the shoulders. Flesh is sweet and mild. 90 days Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Florida High Bush	Plant disease and drought resistant. Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd, Seed Savers Exchange
	Green Egg	3" round to oval apple green fruits. Mild flesh. Great stuffer. Seedy. 80 days. Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Green Goddess	Available:
	Gretel	The small snow-white fruits grow in clusters on plants 3' wide and 3' tall at maturity. Best picked when the fruits are about 3 - 4 inches but the skin will remain tender if the harvest is delayed. Suitable for tub growing (container must be about 16" deep). 55 days. Available: Park Seeds
	Hansel	Clusters of three to six small purple fruits that will remain tender and sweet if the harvest is delayed. Plant suited to tub growing. 55 days. Available: Park Seeds
	Harabegan	Elongated shape, shiny green fruits borne in bunches. Available:
	Ichiban	Purple eggplant, almost black. Very flavorful and tender. Available:
	Indian Paint	Small round fruit from India, brightly colored with neon purple and white stripes. Available:
	Italian Pink Bicolor	Large bell shaped fruits are a creamy purple lavender with pink stripes. 90 days Available:
	Japanese White Egg	Available:
	Langada	Origin: Greece.
	Lavender Touch F1	Pretty white teardrop to cylindrical 5 to 7 inches fruits glossy ivory washed in soft lilac. with a lavender blush. Excellent flavor. 63 days. Available: Nicky's Nursery, Park Seeds
	Lebanese Bunching	Plant is covered with bunches of slender banana-shaped fruits 3 or 4 to a single stem. 80 days. Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Listada de Gandia	Italian eggplant with many culinary uses. Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd
	Little Fingers	A smaller version of Lebanese Bunching. 75 days. Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Long Purple aka Lunga Violetta aka Longue Violette aka Larga Violeta	Sturdy, heavy-bearing plant with dark-purple fruits 2 -2.5 inches by 8 -10 inches long. Best picked before they are 1 inch in diameter. 4 fruits per plant. 70 to 80 days. Available: Semi Al Portico, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Fratelli Ingegnoli. Anseme S.p.a. Italy.
	Longue Blanche aka Long White	Productive oriental cultivar bearing creamy white fruits with a smooth silky sheen without bitterness. 80 days. Available: Plants Potagers, Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Louisiana Green Oval
	Louisiana Long Green	Plant 3.5 feet tall with light green banana shaped 6 to 9 inches sweet fruits, sometimes with pale stripes. 85 to 100 days. Available: Seeds of Change, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Seeds by Design, Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Luna Bianca	Available: Semi Al Portico
	Mirabelle	Available: Semi Al Portico
	Moneymaker F1	Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd, Nicky's Nursery
	Nadia	Uniform dark purple tender early fruits. Available: The Grower's Exchange
	Neon F1	Ripens to a deep bright neon pink color (Sometimes confused with Rosita). Vertcillium tolerant and very adaptable to many climates. 70 days. Available: Seeds by Design, Tradewinds Fruit
	Night Shadow	Jet black glossy tear drop- shaped fruits.
	Orient Charm F1 *****	Pink-white Orient Express type. 8-10" x 1 3/8" fruits with shades of fluorescent pink, pastel pink, and white with green calyx. Strong plant with high yields.. Available: The Growers Exchange, Johnny's Selected Seeds
	Orient Express	Available:
	Orlando F1	Virtually spineless, dwarf plants. Finger-length 'baby' fruits, 5cm (2in) have dark-purple skins and are not at all bitter. Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd
	Pandora Striped Rose *****	Italian eggplant with teardrop shaped fruits that are a lovely lilac or rose pink colour with thin white stripes running lengthwise down every eggplant. 85 days. Available: Roguelands Vegetable Seeds Company, Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Pingtung Synonym of Ping Tung Long ?	Violet-purple sweet fruits 45cm long and 5cm in diameter. Disease resistant and highly productive (20 fruits per plant).. Top Chinese cultivar on the market from Taiwan. 62 days Available: Nicky's Nursery
	Ping Tung Long *** Synonym of Ping Tung ?**	Deep shiny lavender fruits . Keep plant upright in order to get straight fruits. Available : Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
	Prosperosa *****	Italian eggplant. A real standout in the garden. Quite productive. 80 days. Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd, Marianna's Heirloom Seeds, Park Seeds, Fratelli Ingegnoli S.p.a
	Purple Comet F1	Long Chinese type, dark purple almost black fruit. Fruit are about 10 inches long and 2 inches wide. Almost seedless at young stage. 55 days. Available : Seeds by Design

	Rosa Bianca	Italian heirloom, medium-sized 5-8 inch oval stunning light pink fruits with occasional creamy white shading, meaty, mild flavor with no bitterness, plants are 30 inches tall. 75 to 90 days. Available : Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Seeds by Design
	Rosita	Lavender pink teardrop-shaped fruits. The white flesh is mild and sweet. The fruit skin is tender without a trace of bitterness. from Puerto Rico. Southern Exposure favour it over Rosa Bianca (an Italian heirloom). We experience the opposite. Rosita performs very poorly for us. 70 to 85 days. Available : Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
	Rotonda Bianca Sfumata di Rosa *****	Beautiful Italian large size eggplant. White fruits with light pink rose blushing. Flavor is mild and flesh is tender. 90 to 120 days Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Sais Sementi s.p.a., Fratelli Ingegnoli S.p.a, Anseme S.p.a. Italy.
	Round Mauve	Brilliant rose-pink fruits are teardrop shaped. Bright white shadow around the calyx. 90 days. Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Slim Jim	10 cm purple fruits on 40 cm plant. Available: Fratelli Ingegnoli S.p.a
	Snowy	Medium white 18cm fruits with creamy white flesh and firm white skin. Available: Nicky's Nursery
	Striped Toga	Green striped egg-shaped orange fruits 7 to 8 cm long. Strong flavour but not bitter. Available : Seed Savers Exchange, Graines Baumaux
	Tsakoniki aka Τσακώνικη	Greek cultivar. Purple white striped fruits 18 to 22 cm x 3 cm , 200 to 220 g. Plant 80 to 90 cm Available : Ktima Bioma
	Twinkle	Available: Park Seeds

	Udumalapet	See Pt2 Asian Eggplants
	Violetta di Firenze aka Violette de Florence	Available: Fratelli Ingegnoli S.p.a

	Violetta Lunga Precoce aka Longue Violette Hative aka Melanzana Lunga Violetta	See 'Long Purple'
	Viserba F1	Italian cultivar. Available: Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd
	Waimanalo Long	Productive, with long black fruits up to 16 inches. Mild and sweet flesh. 80 days. Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	White Beauty	Plant suitable for in hot, humid areas (Sydney). Fruits average 5 to 6 inches in length, are slightly oval in shape. 70 days. Available: Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
	White Egg aka Bianca a Uovo	Available: Fratelli Ingegnoli S.p.a
	White Star F1	Plant 30 - 36 inches tall with tapered teardrop-shaped, smooth creamy white fruits. Available: Seeds by Design
	Zahara	2 x 6" dark purple fruits. Mild fleshed. 70 days. Available: Marianna's Heirloom Seeds
	Zebra F1	Italian style fruits approx 15 to 20 cm. Maturing in approx 70 days. Available: Nicky's Nursery

Sources of seeds

Note on the following companies.

A number of those are part of complex corporate structures and are difficult to contact directly. The main address that we give below is a starting point. We are not sponsored by any of those companies nor do we receive any favour from them apart from the odd catalogue photo. It would be nice to be able to link directly to a gallery or a photo or a description but this is sometimes impossible and practice has taught us that these links never last long anyway because online catalogues / sites are updated too often. The seed sources likely to carry Open Pollinated / bio ag. friendly cultivars are tagged with (O.P. cvs), Others are more likely to carry some hybrids but they may have also some organic sections such as Graines Baumaux. Few are either totally "organic" or completely "non organic" ie. holding only hybrids (F1 cvs) or GM cultivars.

Agriculture Consulting Ltd. (Official Ukrainian and Moldavian Distributor of Seminis). Also known as Scientific-Consulting Center (SCC ). Russian & English versions of every page. (16 F1 cvs)

Anseme Spa. Italy. (3 O.P. cvs)

Eden Seeds Australia. (8 O.P. cvs)

Esasem Spa. (Distibutor of Sakata Vegetables Europe) Italy

eSeeds.com Ltd. Retail online seeds from Thompson & Morgan, Botanical Interest Seeds, Unwins etc. (5 O.P. cvs)

Exotic Garden Finland (7 cvs)

Fratelli Ingegnoli S.p.a Italy (7 O.P. cvs & 2 F1 cvs)

Graines Baumaux France. (17 O.P. cvs) + (12 F1 cvs).

Green Earth Growers Seedlings, USA (18cvs)

Johnny's Selected Seeds USA. Interesting online catalogue, very cool! (17 F1 cvs) + (1 O.P. cv)

Ktima Bioma Greece. (3 cvs)

Nicky's Nursery UK (10 F1 cvs & 9 O.P. cvs )

Park Seeds USA. (4 F1 cvs & 3 O.P. cvs)

Piante & Passione - Italy. A division of Ecofaber. (Source of Melanzana 'Seta') (5 cvs)

Plants Potagers France. (8 O.P. cvs)

Podington Online Garden Centre. UK. (4 cvs)

Roguelands Vegetable Seeds Company UK (United Kingdom). (4 cvs)

Sais Sementi s.p.a. Italy. (3 cvs)

Seeds of Change USA. (11 O. P. cvs)

Seeds by Design USA. (8 F1 cvs & 12 O.P. cvs)

Seemnemaailm Estonia. (4 F1 cvs & 9 O.P. cvs)

Sementi Fuscello Gianfranco Italy

Semi Al Portico Italy.

SicilPlants Italy. Hold 'Black Beauty' sel Baffa (25 cvs)

The Grower's Exchange USA.

Thompson & Morgan (Group) Ltd World wide. (5 F1 cvs & 4 O.P. cvs)

Tomato Growers Supply Company USA (13 O.P. cvs) + (13 F1 cvs)

Trade Winds Fruit USA. Edible (18 cvs), Ornamental (4 spp.)

Debate on the import of eggplant seeds into Australia

An interesting blog with comments on the Australian Quarantine Information System administering Quarantine Laws.

< http://www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg0805133710511.html >.

Further reading
Miscellaneous
Seeds / Plants sources / Useful contacts / Tips / More information
See also this section on all related pages.

Some Ukrainian cultivar names.

'Черный Красавец ' F1 = Black Beauty
'Кариба' F1 = Kariba
'Клауд Найн' F1 = Cloud Nine
'Зебра' F1   = Zebra
'Бибо' F1 = Bibo (Украина)
'Биргах' F1   = Birgah
'Блэкнайт' F1   = Blacknite (Украина)
'Импульс' F1   = Impulse (Украина)
'Валентина' F1 = Valentina
'Клоринда' F1 = Clorinda
'Кубанита' F1    = Cubanita (Украина)
'Маруэкос' F1 =   Marruecos (Украина)
'Мирабел' F1 =   Mirabelle
'Солара' F1   = Solara
'Эпик' F1   = Epic
'Эрроу' F1 = Arrow (Украина)

'Ночная тень' F1 = Night Shadow

Extra photos

Farmers markets seem to be the only retail sources for extra ordinary fresh eggplants. Here are some beautiful examples captured by Flickr members.

< http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lockard/584850454/in/pool-418971@N22 >.

< http://www.flickr.com/photos/kawilson/2664908055/in/pool-418971@N22 >.

< http://www.flickr.com/photos/kawilson/2664963237/in/pool-418971@N22 >.

.... More to come ....

Finally for the reader who has never had the pleasure of seeing beautiful packets of seeds here are some self identified beauties (download the Powerpoint file to your desktop and view it with Internet Explorer - it will save you hassles. Reduce the size of the display so that the first seed packet photo is the size of a "standard" packet for clarity).

Acknowledgements:

I wish to acknowledge the kind cooperation of many colleagues mentioned throughout this article and mostly all my flickr contacts who have provided useful comments and many of those beautiful photos. Many thanks to all.

Compiled by Michel H. Porcher

Started: 12 / 04 / 09

Updated: 17 / 07 / 09

Completed: soon!
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