CAPSICUM, OR RED PEPPER 



175 



Uses. — The seed-pods, green or ripe, are much used as season- 

 ing, especially in hot countries ; they are also pickled in vinegar. 

 When dried and ground, they make cayenne or red pepper. The 

 pods of some of the large kinds, which are very fleshy and not hot, 

 are used as vegetables in about the same way as Egg-plants. A 

 good instance of the slowness with which the use of vegetables 

 is made known is afforded by the large green mild variety of 

 Capsicum, which is so much eaten over a great part of Spain and 

 some of the adjoining French departments. It was carried by the 

 Spaniards into Naples during their dominion there in the sixteenth 

 and seventeenth centuries, and has since remained in common use 

 there, without spreading farther. It makes an excellent salad, 

 having all the flavour of the Capsicum without pungency, and 

 enters into various light and pleasant dishes of the Italian and 

 Spanish cooks. 



Common Capsicum. — A great many, if not all, of the culti- 

 vated varieties of Capsicum appear to have been derived from 



growth just described. The seed-vessels are pendent, slender, long, 

 conical in shape, often curved and twisted, sometimes 4 to 5 in. 

 in length, and abo^ut i in. in diameter at the base. When ripe, 

 they are a very fine brilliant red, and usually rather hot to the 



this species, which is success- 

 fully cultivated in the climate 

 of Paris as an annual, with 

 the assistance of a little 

 artificial heat at the com- 

 mencement of its growth. It 

 grows pretty tall, has leaves 

 longer than broad, white and 

 rather small flowers, and 

 usually long seed-pods. The 

 acrid or burning principle in 

 the seed-pods is in inverse 

 proportion to their size. The 

 large kinds are usually mild 

 in flavour, the medium-sized 

 sometimes mild and some- 

 times the reverse, while the 

 small kinds are invariably 

 very pungently hot to the 

 taste. 



Long Red Spanish Pepper. 



Long Red Capsicum, 

 or Guinea Pepper. — This 

 variety, which is the most 

 extensively grown of all, 

 has all the characteristics of 



