Ninety five (95) cultivars of the Kumba Group "bitter eggplant" of theSolanuma ethiopicumspecies collected in the
agricultural region of West Burkina Faso have been assessed using 22 agro-morphological descriptors. The study has
shown that the naming process of cultivars in this area by farmers is solely based on phenotypic traits such as fruit colour, size or shape. This eggplant is grown, by both men and women, for its fruit and leaves. It has also highlighted large agromorphological variability distinct from geographical factors. Two main cultivar groupshave been identified. The first group consists of early season cultivars which are featured by average vegetative development and yield many small-sized piece of fruit. The second group comprises late cultivars with high vegetative development and a fewerlarge pieces of fruit.

Varietal diversity, Solanum aethiopicum, genetic resources, landvarieties, Burkina Faso