View source for Capsicum

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Capsicum
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=1: 188. 1753
|year=1753
}}
|common_names=Chili pepper;aji
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Solanaceae;Capsicum
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Solanaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Capsicum]]</div></div>
|etymology=Greek kapsa, box or capsule, alluding to fruit
|volume=Volume 14
|mention_page=
|treatment_page=
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Shrubs </b>[rarely trees], rhizomatous, usually glabrous or glabrescent, sometimes sparsely or densely pubescent. <b>Stems</b> erect or spreading, dichotomously branched, often hollow. <b>Leaves</b> alternate. <b>Inflorescences</b> axillary, solitary flowers or 2–3[4–6]-flowered fascicles. <b>Flowers</b> 5–7-merous; calyx not expanded or accrescent, cyathiform or campanulate, margins truncate, entire, ± undulated, or with 5–10 teeth of 2 lengths, base somewhat enlarged in fruit, not expanded or accrescent; corolla pure white, greenish white, bluish white, yellow, or purple, sometimes with tan or greenish yellow markings, radial, rotate, subrotate, or campanulate, stellate or 5-angled or -lobed; stamens inserted at base of corolla, equal [unequal], [with or without paired appendages at base of each filament]; anthers basifixed, oblong to lanceolate, dehiscing by longitudinal slits; ovary 2-carpellate; style cylindric, elongate, slender, usually longer than ovary [except in species with stylar heteromorphism]; stigma capitate. <b>Fruits</b> berries, globose or ovoid and elongated, dry to fleshy. <b>Seeds</b> (5–45), yellow to cream or brown, flattened, reniform or subreniform. <b>x</b> = 12, 13.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=s United States;Mexico;West Indies;Central America;South America (north of Amazon River);introduced nearly worldwide.
|discussion=<p>Species 40 (1 in the flora).</p><!--
--><p>Capsicum is included in the subtribe Capsicinae (T. Yamazaki 1993), which is characterized chiefly by its prominent stapet (auriculate, bidenticulate, or winged appendages at the filament bases).</p><!--
--><p>Capsicum is native in the Americas; some species are cultivated worldwide for food, spice, or medicine. In cultivation, Capsicum is typically a herbaceous annual with five- to eight-merous flowers. Two domesticated species have been introduced into the United States: C. annuum and C. baccatum var. pendulum (Willdenow) Eshbaugh. A. T. Hunziker (2001) considered the cultivated C. annuum, C. chinense, and C. frutescens species complex to be a single species, C. annuum. W. H. Eshbaugh (2012) discussed this issue at length and adopted Hunziker’s position.</p>
|tables=
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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Capsicum
|author=W. Hardy Eshbaugh
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=genus
|parent rank=family
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Solanaceae
|distribution=s United States;Mexico;West Indies;Central America;South America (north of Amazon River);introduced nearly worldwide.
|reference=None
|publication title=Sp. Pl.
|publication year=1753
|special status=
|source xml=
|genus=Capsicum
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Solanaceae]]