Capsicum annuum L. var. glabriusculum (Dunal) Heiser & Pickersgill (Beargrass, Bird Pepper, Sacahuista, Sacahuista Bear-grass)

Overview

Scarcely distinguishable from C. annuum L., an herb or small shrub from tropical America where it has been cultivated for 4,000 years. The ornamental peppers, tobasco, paprika, cayenne, and bell peppers are all varieties of this latter, highly variable species which is also found in cultivation in Hawaii. The fruits are an excellent source of vitamin C and are often used medicinally in the tropics.

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Australia:

Green Capsicum

Common Names in English:

Beargrass, Bell Pepper, Bird Pepper, Capsicum Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Cherry Pepper, Chili Pepper, Cone Pepper, Green Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, Long Pepper, Paprika, Pimento Pepper, Red Cone Pepper, Red Pepper, Sacahuista, Sacahuista Bear-grass, Sweet Pepper

Common Names in French:

Piment Doux, Poivre D´espagne, Poivre De Cayenne, Poivron Doux

Common Names in German:

Cayennepfeffer, Gemüsepaprika, Spanischer Pfeffer

Common Names in Italian:

Peperone

Common Names in Portuguese:

Pimentão

Common Names in Spanish:

Ají, Chile, Guindilla, Pasilla, Pimiento, Poblano, Serrano

Description

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Family Solanaceae

Herbs, shrubs , small trees , or climbers . Stems sometimes prickly, rarely thorny; hairs simple , branched, or stellate , sometimes glandular . Leaves alternate, solitary or paired , simple or pinnately compound , without stipules; leaf blade entire , dentate , lobed , or divided . Inflorescences terminal , overtopped by continuing axes, appearing axillary , extra-axillary , or leaf opposed, often apparently umbellate , racemose, paniculate , clustered, or solitary flowers, rarely true cymes, sometimes bracteate . Flowers mostly bisexual , usually regular, 5-merous, rarely 4- or 6-9-merous. Calyx mostly lobed. Petals united . Stamens as many as corolla lobes and alternate with them, inserted within corolla, all alike or 1 or more reduced; anthers dehiscing longitudinally or by apical pores . Ovary 2-5-locular; placentation mostly axile ; ovules usually numerous . Style 1. Fruiting calyx often becoming enlarged, mostly persistent . Fruit a berry or capsule. Seeds with copious endosperm; embryo mostly curved .

About 95 genera with 2300 species: best represented in western tropical America, widespread in temperate and tropical regions ; 20 genera (ten introduced ) and 101 species in China.

Some species of Solanaceae are known in China only by plants cultivated in ornamental or specialty gardens: Atropa belladonna Linnaeus, Cyphomandra betacea (Cavanilles) Sendtner, Brugmansia suaveolens (Willdenow) Berchtold & Presl, Nicotiana alata Link & Otto, and Solanum jasminoides Paxton.Zhi-Yun Zhang, Anmin Lu & William G. D'Arcy "Solanaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 300. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Genus Capsicum

Shrubs or annual or perennial herbs; pubescence of simple hairs . Stems branched. Leaves solitary or paired , petiolate ; leaf blade simple, entire or sinuate . Inflorescences solitary or few-flowered clusters at branch forks or leaf axils ; peduncle absent. Flowers nodding or erect , actinomorphic . Pedicel erect or nodding. Calyx broadly campanulate to cup-shaped, denticulate , sometimes slightly enlarged. Corolla white, blue, or violet, campanulate or rotate, divided halfway or more. Stamens inserted near distal end of corolla tube ; filaments slender; anthers yellow or purplish, ovoid , dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary 2- (or 3) - locular ; ovules numerous . Style slender; stigma small, capitate. Fruit a moist berry, sometimes large, erect, nodding, or reflexed . Seeds yellowish, discoid ; embryo coiled, subperipheral.

About 25 species: all in South America, two or three cultivated and naturalized worldwide; one species in China."Capsicum". in Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 313. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Physical Description

Habit: Subshrub , Shrub

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- Kingdom: Plantae () - Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae () - Cavalier-Smith, 1981
    - Phylum: Tracheophyta () - Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
      - Subphylum: Euphyllophytina ()
        Infraphylum: Radiatopses () - Kenrick & Crane, 1997
        Class: Magnoliopsida () - Brongniart, 1843 - Dicotyledons
        Subclass: Lamiidae () - Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
        Superorder: Solananae () - R. Dahlgren Ex Reveal, 1992
        Order: Solanales () - Dumortier, 1829
        Family: Solanaceae () - Adans., 1763, Nom. Cons. - Potato Family
        Subfamily: Solanoideae ()
        Tribe: Solaneae ()
        Genus: Capsicum () - Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 188. 1753. - Indian Paintbrush
        Specific epithet: annuum - Linnaeus
        Variety: glabriusculum
        Botanical name: - Capsicum annuum L.

Notes

Place of publication : Sp. pl. 1:188-189. 1753

Name verified on 22-Jan-1997 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 22-Jan-1997

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Capsicum

There are approximately 2524 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

Bibliography

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Arcy, W. G. D & W. H. Eshbaugh. 1974. New World peppers (Capsicum - Solanaceae) north of Colombia: A resumé. Baileya 19:98–99.
Gómez-Pompa, A. & V. Sosa, eds. 1978–. Flora de Veracruz. (F Veracruz)
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. (Dict Gard)
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. (Hortus 3)
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. (Food Feed Crops US)
McGuffin, M. et al., eds. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. (Herbs Commerce ed2)
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. (Dict Rehm)
Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946–1976. Flora of Guatemala. (F Guat)
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943–1980. Flora of Panama. (F Panama)
Kuang Ko-zen & Lu An-ming, eds. 1978. Solanaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 67(1): 1-175.
Kuang Ko-zen & Lu An-ming, eds. 1978. Solanaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 67(1): 1-175.

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors

Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 22, 2006.
Carr, Gerald
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (May 04, 2008)
USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Identifiers

Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-527045
GRIN Nomen Number: 8904

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 527045
Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDSOL06012
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 166509

Capsicum annuum L. var. glabriusculum (Dunal) Heiser & Pickersgill

Overview

Common Names

Description

Family Solanaceae

Genus Capsicum

Physical Description

Biology

Reproduction

Taxonomy

Notes

Similar Species

Members of the genus Capsicum

Bibliography

More Info

Notes

Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes