Summary
The genusCapsicum has been variously interpreted. It is suggested that the genus be limited to those species with a pungent, shiny, non-pulpy berry. At the same time, it is necessary to emend the genus description to include campanulate corollas and entire calyx margins. The “ulupicas,”C. eximium, andC. cardenasii, the latter described as new and distinguished by a campanulate corolla, are used as condiments in Bolivia. A new species from Brazil,C. praetermissum, characterized by a rather dense pubescence and bluish corollas, is proposed, andBrachistus pubescens is transferred toCapsicum where it becomesC. galapagense. All four species are diploid (n=12). The results of hybridization of each of these four species with other species are discussed.
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The senior author’s study ofCapsicum has been aided by a grant from the McIlhenny Company of New Iberia, Louisiana, to whom grateful acknowledgment is made. We should also like to thank the curators of the Chicago Museum of Natural History, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the New York Botanical Garden, and the United States National Museum for the loan of specimens.
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Heiser, C.B., Smith, P.G. New species of Capsicum from South America. Brittonia 10, 194–201 (1958). https://doi.org/10.2307/2804950
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2804950