4 BULLETIN" 43, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The two opinions quoted seem to establish the legal status of Amer- 

 ican-grown paprika. 



BOTANICAL ORIGIN OF PAPRIKA. 



The form of pepper chiefly concerned in this paper is one of the 

 many forms of the almost universally distributed Capsicum annuum 

 L. (Fig. 1.) In field cultures it exhibits more or less variation, but 

 the most frequent and most desirable form corresponds to the follow- 

 ing description : 



Plants about 2 feet high, obpyramidal in form. Stems diehotomously 

 branched, angled, subsulcate. glabrous except for slight pubescence on the angles 



and at the nodes, longitu- 

 dinally striate with green 

 and whitish green. Leaves 

 ovate, acute, tapering at 

 the base to a petiole about 

 half as long as the blade, 

 glabrous on both sides, 

 dark green above, lighter 

 beneath. Flowers solitary 

 in the dichotomies, flower- 

 ing successively from the 

 lowest upward, through- 

 out the season. Fruits on 

 nodding peduncles, typi- 

 cally 3i to 4 inches long, 

 1 to lg inches broad at the 

 truncate base, the shoul- 

 der of which extends be- 

 yond the persistent calyx, 

 tapering gradually to the 

 acute, obtusish, or mi- 

 nutely retuse apex ; sur- 

 face smooth, slightly 

 marked by longitudinal de- 

 pressions, which indicate 

 the position of the two 

 (or more) parietal pla- 

 centa?. Placenta", meeting in the axis in the basal third of the fruit and at the 

 extreme apex, not in contact elsewhere. Seeds compressed, broadly oval to 

 suborbicular. 



It is probable that this type is of mixed origin, since a small propor- 

 tion of shorter, more rounded, and inflated fruits occur, showing three 

 or four rounded protuberances at the end of the pods. Occasionally 

 a fruit occurs having almost the "btillnose" form. (Fig. 2.) 



CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN PAPRIKA. 



The word " paprika," as it has entered into commercial use in the 

 United States, refers to a variety of products. It is probable that the 

 name was originally applied to the Hungarian type to which the 



Fig. 1, — A paprika pepper plant in bearing. 

 20 inches. 



Height, about 



