Baingan / Wild Brinjal
Solanum melongena var. insanum
Also known as Bitter Apple, Egg Plant, Brinjal
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Baingan
Identify Baingan by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a undershrub habit.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu.
- Confirm it sits within the Solanaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Baingan.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Solanum melongena var. insanum
- Genus
- Solanum
- Family
- Solanaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Roadsides, wastelands, homesteads and sometimes grown as medicinal plants
- Habitat type
- Cultivated, Wasteland
- Native to
- South and tropical America
- Distribution
- Tropics of the World
- Found in India
- Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Solanaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Typical of the Solanaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- बैंगन Baingan, बंग Bang, भण्टा Bhanta
- Nepali
- बैगुन Baigun, भण्टा Bhantaa, भान्टा
- Bengali
- বার্তাকু Bartaku, বেগুন Begun, বেগুন
- Tamil
- அச்சத்தி Accatti, காளினியம் Kaliniyam, கத்தரி Kattari
- Telugu
- హింగుది Hingudi, వంగ Vanga, వంకాయ Vankaaya
- Kannada
- ಬದನೆ Badane, ಗುಳ್ಳ Gulla, ಕಾಚಿ Kaachi
- Malayalam
- വഴുതിന Vazhuthina, വഴുതന, എഗ്ഗ് പ്ലാന്റ്
- Marathi
- वांगी Vangi, वांगे
About Baingan
Wild Brinjal (Solanum melongena var. insanum) belongs to the Solanaceae family, where it grows as a low shrub. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and 1 other states. It grows in roadsides, wastelands, homesteads and sometimes grown as medicinal plants. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Solanaceae
Nightshade/Tomato family
Baingan belongs to the Solanaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Solanaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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