Wild Relatives of the Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.: Solanaceae): New Understanding of Species Names in a Complex Group Author Knapp, Sandra Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, United Kingdom s.knapp@nhm.ac. uk Author Vorontsova, Maria S. Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom Author Prohens, Jaime Instituto de Conservación y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad Valenciana, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain text PLoS ONE 2013 2013-02-22 8 2 1 12 journal article 20350 10.1371/journal.pone.0057039 fcefd797-1d3e-43c6-ad6e-8550a33e9199 PMC3579775 23451138 6338572 1. Solanum aureitomentosum Bitter , Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 18. 1912. Solanum chrysotrichum C.H.Wright , Kew Bull. 1894: 129. 1894 , nom. illeg., later homonym of Solanum chrysotrichum Schltdl. Distribution. Southern Africa, from Southern Democratic Republic of the Congo to Angola, southern Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; roadsides, Brachystegia Benth. ( Fabaceae , Caesalpinoidae ) woodland and grassland; 800–1600 m elevation. Solanum aureitomentosum is a distinctive densely woolly plant with leafy calyx lobes in long-styled flowers. It is very similar to and partly sympatric with S. lichtensteinii but we have chosen to recognise it due to the distinctness of the combination of morphological characters and its more high elevation forested habitat. Field studies of these (and all species of the group) at local scales will be useful in furthering the understanding of this variation. No accessions we identify as S. aureitomentosum have been used in previous studies of this group, nor can we find any evidence for accessions of this species in eggplant germplasm collections.