ABSTRACT
The eggplant, Solanum melongena L. is a cultivated herb of the nightshade family. Little is known about the flowering of other nontuber-bearing Solanum species. The flowers are hermaphrodite and may be either solitary or borne in clusters of various sizes. Several factors affect the size of the flower and its parts: cv, position of the flower in the cluster, and style length. Eggplant flowers are grouped according to style length in relation to the length of the surrounding anther cone as long, medium, or short styled. The quality and extent of the flowering process are strongly influenced by temperature and mineral nutrition. The rate of growth of flower buds and the rate of appearance of new flowers are temperature dependent: on the main stem a new flower opens every 7 to 8 days during the warm season, and every 14 to 20 days during the cool season.
