Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Capsicum (/ ˈ k æ p s ɪ k ə m / [3]) is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their edible fruit, which are generally known as "peppers" or "capsicum".
Capsicum annuum, commonly known as paprika, chili pepper, red pepper, sweet pepper, jalapeño, cayenne, or bell pepper, [5] is a fruiting plant from the family Solanaceae (nightshades), within the genus Capsicum which is native to the northern regions of South America and to southwestern North America.
Capsicum chinense or "Chinese capsicum" is a misnomer since all Capsicum species originated in the New World. Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727–1817), a Dutch botanist, named the species in that way in 1776 because he believed they originated in China. Most of the peppers of this species have a distinctive flavor and are similar in flavor to ...
The name pepper was applied in Europe to all known spices with a hot and pungent taste and was therefore extended to genus Capsicum when it was introduced from the Americas. The most commonly used name of the plant family chile is of Mexican origin, from the Nahuatl word chilli. [citation needed]
Chili peppers of varied colours and sizes: green bird's eye, yellow Madame Jeanette, red cayenne. Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli (from Classical Nahuatl chīlli [ˈt͡ʃiːlːi] ⓘ), are varieties of berry-fruit plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency.
The most economically important genus of the family is Solanum, which contains the potato (S. tuberosum, in fact, another common name of the family is the "potato family"), the tomato (S. lycopersicum), and the eggplant or aubergine (S. melongena). Another important genus, Capsicum, produces both chili peppers and bell peppers.
The scientific species name C. chinense or C. sinensis ("Chinese capsicum") is a misnomer. All Capsicum species originated in the New World. [7] Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727–1817), a Dutch botanist, erroneously named the species in 1776, because he believed it originated in China due to their prevalence in Chinese cuisine; it however was later found to be introduced by earlier European ...
Capsicum frutescens is a wild chili pepper having genetic proximity to the cultivated pepper Capsicum chinense native to Central and South America. [2] Pepper cultivars of C. frutescens can be annual or short-lived perennial plants. Flowers are white with a greenish white or greenish yellow corolla, and are either insect- or self-pollinated.