SYSTEMATIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SOME SPECIES OF SOLANUM L. SECT. MELONGENA L. - EVIDENCE FROM SEED CHARACTERS

Abstract

Solanum incanum L. and S. insanum L.. two Indian wild and weedy forms of
spinous Solanums, are closely .related to S. melongena, the cultivated eggplant
or brinjal. Evidence from light and scanning electron microscopy of the seed
supports their close phylogenetic relationship. The three are nearly identical in
the shape and size of the seed, the hilum and the seed epidermal cells. Seeds
of ..S. melongena var. potangl' on the other hand, have distinctly different
morphology. This form of disputed taxonomic validity and uncertain identity is
probably not available among the phylogenetically close relatives of eggplant