Solanum melongena L. (brinjal eggplant) is a member of a small monophyletic group (Eggplant clade) of mainly andromonoecious species in the large and diverse Leptostemonum clade of Solanum (previously referred to as subgenus Leptostemonum Bitter). The Leptostemonum clade (also known as the spiny solanums) is the most diverse monophyletic group in the species-rich genus Solanum and contains more than 500 species occurring on all continents except Antarctica. In this chapter, we summarise the current state of knowledge of the taxonomy and phylogeny of Solanum, the Leptostemonum clade and that of the monophyletic group of Old World taxa to which S. melongena belongs. We provide a species list with distributions of the currently recognised members of the Eggplant clade and discuss character evolution and biogeography in the group in the context of phylogeny.