344 



CAP 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



CAP 



Capfule : bivalve, bilocular, many-seeded. Those plants of 

 this genus which are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 may be increased by cuttings, and are not so tender as the 

 tirst sp'ecies. The species are, 



1. Capraria Bifiora; Shrubby Goatweed, or Sweetweeil. 

 Leuves alternate ; flowers in pairs. This is a shrub, seldom 

 exceeding four feet in height ; branches long, somewhat 

 woody, erect, roundish, sometimes slightly hirsute ; flowers 

 without scent ; corolla white ; seeds very small. It is very 

 common in Jamaica, and in all the Caribbees, and the neigh- 

 bouring continent ; and is one of the plants formerly taken 

 for the Tea of the Chinese, and hence, in the French West 

 India islands, called thee du pays. It is propagated by seeds, 

 which must be sown upon a hot-bed in the spring of the year ; 

 and the plants must be brought forward by planting them 

 upon a second hot-bed : about the middle or end of June, 

 they may be transplanted either into pots of rich earth, or a 

 warm border, and may then be exposed to the open air, 

 where they will perfect their seeds in autumn. 



2. Capraria Durantifolia. Leaves in threes, toothed ; pe- 

 duncles solitary; branches alternate; stem about a foot high, 

 obtusely hexangular. Native of sloughs in Jamaica, where 

 mud has been worked up by carriages. 



3. Capraria Crustacea. Creeping : leaves opposite, ovate, 

 subpetioled, crenated. It is a native of Amboyna and China. 



4. Capraria Lanceolata ; Willow-leaved Capraria. Leaves 

 opposite, linear-lanceolate, quite entire ; racemes terminating, 

 compound : shrubby. Found at the Cape of Good Hope. 



5. Capraria Undulata ; Waved-leaved Capraria. Shrubby : 

 Leaves opposite, ovate-oblong, quite entire, waved ; the upper 

 subcordate, verticelled ; racemes spike-form ; flowers in an 

 almost simple terminating raceme. It flowers from March 

 to July. Found at the Cape of Good Hope. 



6. Capraria Lucida ; Shining Capraria. Smooth ; leaves 

 opposite, oblong, acute, finely serrulate, glossy; petioles 

 winged; peduncles tbree-flowered ; stems quadrangular; co- 

 rolla silver-form ; tube cylindric, pale purple, a little longer 

 than the calix, gibbous on the outside at the base, above 

 that a little bent, then erect, a little elongated on the outside, 

 so that the border is entirely horizontal ; segments ovate, 

 obtuse, equal, reddish purple, with a dark purple spot near 

 the throat, which is hairy. It flowers in April and May; is 

 biennial. Native of the Cape. 



7. Capraria Humilis ; Dwarf Capraria. Pubescent : 

 leaves opposite, or in threes, ovate, serrate, petioled ; pedun- 

 cles axillary, shorter than the petiole. Annual; and a native 

 of the East Indies. 



Capsicum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, 

 five-cleft, erect, permanent. Corolla: monopetalous, ro- 

 tated ; tube very short ; border half five-cleft, spreading, 

 plaited; divisions broad, acute. Stamina: filamenta five, 

 subulate, very small ; anthers oblong, converging. Pistil : 

 germen, superior, ovate ; style filiform, longer than the sta- 

 mina ; stigma obtuse. Pericarp .- berry without pulp, ap- 

 proaching to an ovate figure, bilocular, hollow, coloured ; 

 receptacles growing to the dissepiment, exsuccous. Seeds: 

 very many, reniform, compressed. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Corolla: rotated. Berry: exsuccous. Most of the 

 plants of this genus are natives of both the Indies, but they 

 have been principally imported from America into Europe. 

 They abound in all the Caribbee islands, and are greatly 

 used in sauces, especially by the negroes, whence the fruit is 

 called Xctrro and Guinea pepper. The well-known prepara- 

 tion called Cayenne Pepper, made from the pods of the smaller 

 orts of Capsicum, when used in moderation, is by no means 



unwholesome, especially to cold phlegmatic habits. In such 

 temperaments, as well as in paralytic cases, it is used medi- 

 cinally, in small quantities, as one of the highest stimulants. 

 It has also been exhibited, in combination with aloetic medi 

 cines and the deobstruent gums, in uterine disorders. A 

 small quantity of the powder of Capsicum has sometimes 

 given almost immediate relief in the tooth-ache, when arising 

 from a caries or rotten tooth ; it is to be applied to the part 

 affected, by introducing it into the cavity of the carious 



tooth. The species are, 



1. Capsicum Annuum ; Annual Capsiaim, or Guinea Pep- 

 per. Stem herbaceous ; peduncles solitary ; fruit oblong. 

 An annual plant, two feet high, upright, branched ; branches 

 short.ascending; leaves ovate-lanceolate,quite entire, smooth, 

 darkgreen; flowers white, lateral, solitary. Thefruitisaberry, 

 varyingmuch in size and shape, extremely smooth and shining 

 on the outside, scarlet or yellow, inflated or yellow, two-celled, 

 sometimes three-celled; the partitions at top commonly failing 

 towards the axis ; receptacle at the bottom of the berry solid, 

 ovate, conical, intimately connected with the partitions, so 

 that some of the seeds are sometimes fixed to the partitions 

 themselves ; seeds kidney-shaped or round, beaked,- smooth, 

 whitish or pale straw-coloured. Two seems to be the natural 

 number of the cells ; for berries which are three-celled be- 

 come two-celled towards the top. Long informs us, that 

 there are fifteen varieties cultivated in Jamaica : the common 

 long-podded Capsicum has been long cultivated in our gar- 

 dens ; it varies, 1. with oblong fruit, growing erect ; 2. with 

 a divided fruit ; 3. with oblong and short pods growing erect ; 

 4. with a taper fruit a span long. The Capsicum with heart- 

 shaped pods has also several varieties ; 1. with round hang- 

 ing pods ; 2. with larger and rounder pods ; 3. with the 

 largest round pods ; 4. with upright heart-shaped pods ; 5. 

 with upright round pods : these also have both red and yellow 

 fruit. Bonnet-pepper has small wrinkled leaves ; the fruit ia 

 also furrowed and wrinkled ; generally growing upright, and 

 of a beautiful scarlet-colour ; some of them have their tops 

 compressed like a bonnet, whence the name ; others are bell- 

 shaped. Cherry-pepper was sent from the Spanish West In- 

 dies ; it does not grow so tall as the others, but spreads near 

 the ground ; the leaves come out in clusters, are of a shining 

 green, and stand on long footstalks ; the fruit is round, 

 smooth, of a beautiful red, and the size of a common cherry. 

 Olive-pepper came from Barbadoes : this is like the first in 

 stalk and leaves, but the fruit is oval, and about the size of 

 a French olive. These are all annual with us, their stalk de- 

 caying soon after they are ripe, whatever they muy be in 

 their native countries. They are propagated by seeds, which 

 must be sown upon a hot-bed in the spring ; and when the 

 plants have six leaves, they should be transplanted on an- 

 other hot-bed, at four or five inches' distance, shading them in 

 the day-time from the sun until they have taken root, after 

 which they must have a large share of air admitted to them 

 in warm weather, to prevent their drawing up weak. To- 

 ward the end of May the plants must be hardened by degrees 

 to bear, the open air ; and in June they should be carefully 

 taken up, preserving as much earth about their roots as pos- 

 sible, and planted into borders of rich earth, observing to 

 water them well, as also to shade them, until they have 

 taken root, after which time they will require no other ma- 

 nagement, but to keep them clean from weeds, and in very 

 dry seasons to refresh them three or four times a week with 

 water ; they will flower at the end of June and in July, and 

 ripen fruit in autumn. The above directions are for the 

 culture of the common sorts of Capsicum, which are gene- 

 rally planted for ornament. Bonnet-pepper, cherry-pepper, 



