''Capsicum flexuosum'' is a member of the genus ''Capsicum,'' and is native to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

, specifically the southern regions of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Unlike most other

chili peppers Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus '' Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

, it is only mildly pungent and has issues with self-compatibility.

Plant description

''Capsicum flexuosum'' is identified by its distinctive white, green, and sometimes purple flowers. The flowers have an entire calyx and campanulate

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

that come in various color varieties, but are generally green toward the center changing to white at the petal edges . Mature fruit of ''C. flexuosum'' are tiny berries with a bullet shape about 7 mm long that ripen to red. It is propagated by seed. It has a somatic chromosome number of 2n=2x=24.

Uses

In Brazil, where the plants occur naturally, ''C. flexusoum'' is sometimes used as a

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

. Also, since it is a wild pepper species, it has been used extensively in

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

studies to better understand the relationships of peppers and different gene models. This species has also been used as a "bridge species" to cross more distantly related ''Capsicum'' species to those more related to domesticated

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15540707 Chili peppers flexuosum