Solanum Aethiopicum

Ethiopian Eggplant (ባሚያ), nakati or Solanum aethiopicum is a fruiting plant of the genus Solanum mainly found in Asia and Tropical Africa. It is also known as Mock Tomato, Garden Eggs and Ethiopian Nightshade. These names are a result of its varied morphology, with ripe fruit often looking like a cross between an eggplant and a tomato, which are also from Solanum. In fact, the Ethiopian Eggplant was so much confused with the ordinary eggplant that this was considered by some a variety violaceum of S. aethiopicum.

Ethiopian Eggplant may have originated from the domestication of Solanum anguivi. The Scarlet Eggplant, also known as Gilo or jiló, was long held to be a distinct species (S. gilo) but is nowadays generally considered to be a cultivar group of S. aethiopicum.