Solanum ellipticum is known as Potato Bush and under the more ambiguous name of "bush tomato". The Arrernte name of merne awele-awele might refer to this species, and/or to the similar S. quadriloculatum. Native to Australia, the Potato Bush is a small fruiting shrub in the Solanaceae family. A few now-invalid names for S. ellipticum also exist; mostly they refer to potatobush plants believed to be distinct forms or varieties but today not considered to be taxonomically distinct: