eggplant curiousity

Why is the eggplant called an eggplant? Our familiar North American oblong. deep-violet vegetable bears no resemblance to an egg in shape, color, or taste.

A little research enlightened me.

The eggplant is a vegetable in multitudinous variations of color and shape per this picture. The word eggplant describes only one of the "looks" of the vegetable.

For those of you who are curious about the name aubergine in French which equals eggplant in English (and how that came to be) check out the etymology.