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 6. Solanum lichtensteinii Willd ., Enum. Pl. (Willdenow) 238. 1809. Distribution. From South Africa to Angola, DR Congo, and Tanzania; dry grassland, woodland, and thickets; 500–2000 m . Solanum lichtenstenii is morphologically similar to S. incanum in being densely pubescent with long-stalked trichomes, but can be distinguished from it geographically and by its ridged young stems. In herbarium specimens S. lichtensteinii plants have a greyer tone than the yellowish green S. incanum , but this character is difficult to quantify. Individuals of S. lichtensteinii in upland dry areas of South Africa can be of very small stature, with reduced entire leaves, while S. incanum is more consistent in plant size (shrubs of ca. 1 m ) and no dwarf forms are known. Lester and Hasan [ 29 ] suggested that S. lichtensteinii (their ‘‘ S. incanum group D’’) had arisen from within ‘‘ S. incanum group A’’ (= S. campylacanthum ) and that S. incanum in the strict sense arose from northern populations of S. lichtensteinii . Phylogenetic results [ 27 ] show this not to be the case, S. lichtensteinii is sister to the South Africa S. linnaeaneum and S. campylacanthum is sister to the rest of taxa sampled; this pattern of relationships is confirmed with a larger data set including more species of African solanums [ 38 ] where S. umtuma is also part of a clade including S. lichtensteinii and S. linnaeanum .