SOLANACE^E. IV. CAPSICUM. V. PHYSALIS. 



447 



Petioles ciliated on the margins ; peduncles longer than in C. 

 baccatum. ex Willd. Fruit a little smaller than in C. bac- 

 calum. 



Small-fruited Capsicum, or Chilli Pepper. Fl. April, July. 

 Clt. 1820. Shrub 2 feet. 



25 C. MI'NIMIM (Mill. diet. no. 10.) stem shrubby; fruit 

 small, ovate, erect. Tj . S. Native country unknown. C. bac- 

 catum, var. p, Poir. suppl. 5. p. 326. 



Smallest-fruited Capsicum, or Chilli Pepper. Fl. April, July. 

 Clt. ? Shrub 1 to 2 feet. 



26 C. BACCA'TUM (Lin. syst. p. 226. Mill. diet. no. 9.) 

 frutescent ; branches angular, striated ; leaves oblong, glabrous, 

 as well as the petioles ; calyx urceolate, obsoletely 5-toothed ; 

 peduncles twin ; fruit erect, almost globose. J? . S. Native of 

 tropical America, and now cultivated in India and Guinea. 

 Willd. spec. 1. p. 1050. H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. 3. p. 49. 

 Afz. rem. guin. coll. 2. p. 12. C. frutescens, /j, Lin. spec. 271. 

 Sloane, hist. 1. p. 240. t. 146. f. 2. Rumph. amb. 5. p. 147. 

 t. 88. f. 2. Flowers greenish. Fruit small, ovate. The calyx 

 is said to have 5 subulate teeth according to Lin. ; but accord- 

 ing to H. B. et Kunth it is obsoletely 5-toothed ; there are, 

 therefore, probably two distinct species, confounded under the 

 name of C. baccatum. 



Berried Capsicum, or Bird Pepper. Fl. June, Sept. Clt. 

 1731. Shrub 2 to 4 feet. 



27 C. MICRA'XTHUM (Link, enum. 1. p. 190.) calyxes very 

 blunt ; leaves ovate, acuminated ; petioles ciliated. Ij . S. 

 Native of Brazil. Leaves as in C. microcarpum, and with the 

 calyx always entire, and the fruit cylindrical, 6 lines long. Pe- 

 duncles twin. 



Small-jlomered Capsicum, or Chilli Pepper. Fl. May, June. 

 Clt. 1824. Shrub 2 to 3 feet. 



* * Shrubby. Berries pendulous. 



28 C. SINE'NSE (Jacq. hort. vind. 3. t. 67.) frutescent ; 

 branches flexuous, divaricate, angular ; leaves large, ovate, acu- 

 minated, on slender, filiform, downy pedicels ; calyx entire ; 

 fruit ovate, pendulous, twin. ^ . G. Native of China. Willd. 

 spec. 1. p. 1051. Lam. ill. 2394. Flowers 4-5 in a fascicle 

 in the spontaneous plant, supra-axillary, but twin or solitary in 

 the cultivated plant. Corolla dirty white. Berry yellow, gla- 

 brous, mucronate by the style. 



China Capsicum, or Chilli Pepper. Fl. June, Sept. Clt. 

 1807. Shrub 2 to 3 feet. 



j" Species hardly knoten. 



29 C. VIOLA'CECM (H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. 3. p. 49.) suf- 

 fruticose ; branchlets angular, rather scabrous, downy while 

 young ; but the branches are terete ; leaves ovate-objong, acu- 

 minated, puberulous ; flowers solitary or twin, drooping ; calyx 

 urceolate, hairy, with 7 acute teeth : berries oblong. ^ S. 

 Native near the city of Quito, in cultivated places, at the alti- 

 tude of 1500 hexapods, where it is called Aji bv the natives. 

 C. Quitense, Willd. herb, ex Roem. et Schultes, syst. 4. p. 809. 

 Shrub much branched. Leaves solitary ? twin, ex Bonpl., run- 

 ning into the petioles at the base ; petioles puberulous. Flowers 

 extra-axillary. Corolla violaceous, hairy outside ; throat white ; 

 limb 7-cleft; segments ovate, acuminated, equal. Stamens 7, 

 inserted in the upper part of the tube. Stigma somewhat 2- 

 lobed. Berry dry, oblong, red, 3-6 inches long. 



Violaceous-Qovtered Capsicum, or Chilli Pepper. Shrub. 



30 C. HAMILTOKII ; stem shrubby, biennial, about 3 feet 

 high, erectish, violaceous; leaves dark violet; immature ber- 

 ries red, of a dark violet colour when mature, short, bluntly 

 conical. $ . S. Native of the Island of Nevis, in gardens. 

 C. violaceum, Desf. cat. hort. par. Hamilt. prod. p. 25. but not 

 of H. B. et Kunth. 



Hamilton's Capsicum, or Chilli Pepper. Fl. Year. Shrub 3 

 feet. 



31 C. CJERULE'SCENS (Bess. cat. hort. Krzem. p. 27.) Said 

 to be nearly allied to C. bicolor ; but differs in the stem and 

 leaves being green ; in the fruit being one half shorter, and 

 difformed, bluntly angular, retuse, and at length orange- 

 coloured. 



Bluish Capsicum, or Chilli Pepper. Shrub ? 



32 C. AGGREGATUM (Willd. rel. ex Rcem. et Schultes, syst. 

 4. p. 809.) peduncles aggregate, pubescent ; leaves downy 

 above, but clothed with hoary tomentum beneath. Jj . S. Na- 

 tive country unknown. 



Aggregate Capsicum, or Chilli Pepper. Shrub. 



33 C. WILDENOWII ; peduncles twin ; fruit globose, small ; 

 branches and petioles downy ; stem shrubby. V} . S. Native 

 of South America. Humb. et Bonpl. C. microcarpum, Willd. 

 rel. ex Roam, et Schultes, syst. 4. p. 808. 



WUldenont't Capsicum, or Chili Pepper. Shrub. 



Use. The green pods, or inflated berries, of all the species 

 and their varieties, are used for pickling. They are sometimes 

 also used in their ripe state, when they form a spice of the 

 hottest quality, known by the name of Cayenne-pepper. The 

 fruit of C, grossum are deemed better for pickling than the 

 others, the skin being thick, pulpy, and tender. 



Culture. All the species, with their varieties, are raised 

 from seed : a small parcel, or the produce of two pods, will be a 

 sufficient quantity of each, or of any one variety, for ordinary- 

 supply. Sow all the annual sorts at the end of March, or begin- 

 ning or middle of April, in a moderate hot-bed, under a frame. 

 Cover the seed a quarter of an inch deep. When the plants are 

 2 or 3 inches in growth, prick some into a new, moderate hot- 

 bed, to forward them for final transplanting ; or, in default of 

 this, prick them into a bed of natural earth, at the beginning of 

 May, if fine, settled, warm weather : defend them with a frame 

 or awning of mats at night, or in cold weather. Give water 

 lightly at planting, and occasionally afterwards in moderate sup- 

 plies, to assist their fresh rooting and subsequent growth. At 

 the beginning of June, when the weather is settled warm, trans- 

 plant them into the open garden, in beds of light rich earth, 

 from 12 to 18 inches apart, giving water. They will thus ad- 

 vance freely, flower in July or August, and produce plenty of 

 pods from August till the end of September. Under the defi- 

 ciency of a hot-bed or stove, or for succession, annual capsicums 

 may be raised in a bed of light rich earth, under a hand-glass ; 

 but the sowing must be deferred to fine warm weather in May. 

 Give the plants air in the day, but cover them close at night, till 

 danger from frost is over. At the close of June transplant as 

 above. The perennial and shrubby species may be wintered in 

 the stove. 



To sate seed. Leave one or two of the largest and hand- 

 somest shaped pods to ripen in autumn ; after gathering them, 

 the best way is to hang them up in a dry place, and not take 

 out the seeds till wanted for sowing in spring. 



V. PHY'SALIS (from ^mra, physa, a bladder ; in reference 

 to the inflated calyx.) Lin. gen. no. 250. Schreb. gen. no. 

 336. Gaertn. fruct. 2. p. 238. t. 131. Juss. gen. p. 126. ed. 

 Usteri, p. 140. H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 12. 

 Nees, in Linnaea, 6. p. 449. and Lin. trans. 17. p. 66. Alke- 

 kengi, Tourn. inst. p. 151. t. 64. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Monogynia. Calyx 5-toothed. Co- 

 rolla campanulately rotate, plicate, 5-lobed. Anthers connivent, 

 dehiscing lengthwise. Stigma capitate. Berry 2-celled, many- 

 seeded, covered by the unarmed, membranous, angular, inflated 

 calyx ; placentas adnate. Annual or perennial herbs, rarely 

 shrubs. Stems angular. Leaves scattered, sometimes twin, 



