NAT. OEDER. 



LuridcB. 



CAPSICUM ANNUM. GUINEA PEPPER. 



Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogvnia. 



Gen. CJiar. Coro/fc, wheel-shaped, ^^rry, without juice. 



Spe. Char. Siem, herbaceous. Peduncles, solitary. 



The root is annual ; the stem is thick, roundish, smooth, crooked, 

 branched, and rises four or five feet in height; the leaves are ellipti- 

 cal or egg-shaped, pointed, veined, smooth, and placed in no regu- 

 lar order upon long footstalks; thejloioers are solitary, white, and 

 stand at the axillae of the leaves, upon long peduncles ; the calyx is 

 persistent, angular, tubular, and cut at the extremity into five short 

 segments ; the corolla is monopetalous, wheel-shaped, consisting of 

 a short tube, divided at the limb into five segments, which are 

 spreading, pointed and plated; the five,^/tf;ree«^5 are short, tapering, 

 and furnished with oblong anthers ; the gennen is egg-shaped, and 

 supports a slender style, which is longer than the filaments, and 

 terminated by a blunt stigma ; the capsule is a long conical pod, or 

 berry, of a shining redish color, separated into two cells, which 

 contain several flat kidney-shaped seeds. It is a native of both 

 the Indies, and flowers in June and July. 



This species of Capsicum, and nearly all its varieties, are now 

 cultivated in various parts of Europe. Some varieties have been 

 introduced into the United States, where it thrives equally well, but 

 does not ripen its fruit unless in the southern parts ; the fruit 

 varies both in shape and color, that which is of a conical form, and 

 of a redish or orange color is prefered. Its taste is extremely pun- 

 gent and acrimonious, setting the mouth as it were on fire, which 



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