CAPSICUM

Capsicum Shrubs or annual or perennial herbs; pubescence of simple hairs. Stem branched. Leaves alternate or opposite, petiolate; leaf blade simple, entire or sinuate. Flowers solitary axillary or in clusters up to 3 at branch forks or leaf axils. Flowers nodding or erect, actinomorphic, bisexual, 5-merous, hypogynous, pedicellate; pedicels erect or nodding. Calyx broadly campanulate to cupulate, shallowly 5-toothed. Corolla campanulate or rotate, 5-lobed, divided half-way or more, white, blue or violet. Stamens 5, inserted near distal end of corolla tube; filaments slender; anthers ovoid, mostly yellow, purple or blue; dehiscence longitudinal. Carpels 2, syncarpous; ovary 2- or 3-locular, ovules numerous on swollen placenta, placentation axile; style slender; stigma small, capitate. Fruit many-seeded, +/- dry, inflated, indehiscent berry, sometimes large, erect or nodding; variously coloured (red, yellow, green, pale yellow, dark purple). Seeds yellowish, discoid.

44 species

Capsicum annuum

Capsicum annuum L., Sp. Pl. 188. 1753; Gen. Pl. 5: 86. 1754; Duthie, Fl. Upper Gang. Pl. 2: 133. 1911; Bailey, Stand. Cyclop. Hort. 2: 659. 1919; Heiser & Pickersgill, Econ. Bot. 7: 214-227. 1953; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb. Reprint ed. 2: 347. 1967; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 17: 313; Nasir, Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 23.

Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, 20-80 cm tall. Stem branched and glabrescent. Leaves alternate or opposite; petiole 4-7 cm long, slightly margined; leaf blade oblong-ovate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 4-13 cm x 1.5-4 cm, glabrescent, base narrowed, margin entire, apex short acuminate or acute. Flowers nodding or erect, actinomorphic, bisexual, 5-merous, hypogynous, solitary or in few-flowered clusters, axillary or at branch forks, Pedicel bent at apex, 1-2 cm long, up to 8 cm in fruit; flowers nodding after anthesis. Calyx broadly campanulate or cupulate, shallowly 5-toothed, thick, undulate, incomplete vertical ridge/s between calyx lobes, persistent, enlarging in fruit. Corolla campanulate, ca. 1 cm long, 8-15 mm across, 5-(-7)-lobed, divided halfway or more, lobes 6-7 mm x 3-3.5 mm, ovate, puberulent, apex acute or shortly acuminate, dull white. Stamens 5(-7), inserted near the distal end or base of corolla tube; filaments slender, nearly as long as anthers; anthers purplish or blue, 1.8-2 mm long, dehiscence longitudinal. Carpels 2, syncarpous; ovary 2- or 3-locular, ovules numerous on swollen placentas, placentation axile; style slender, white or purplish and extending beyond anthers; stigma capitate. Fruit a berry, mostly red (orange, yellow or purple in cultivation), variously shaped, up to 15 cm long, erect or nodding, inflated (in Bell Pepper) or not ( Chilly). Seeds pale yellow, discoid or reniform, 3-5 mm.

Flowering and Fruiting: May to June
Common Names: Capsicum, Sweet Pepper, Bell Pepper, Chilli Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika; Lal Mirch, Shimla Mirch (Hindi)