Capsicum longifolium
| Capsicum longifolium | ||||||||||||
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Flowers of Capsicum longifolium |
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| Capsicum longifolium | ||||||||||||
| Barboza & S.Leiva |
Capsicum longifolium is a species from the genus Paprika ( Capsicum ) inthe nightshade family (Solanaceae)described in 2019. It occurs from northern Peru to southern Ecuador and is most similar to the species Capsicum dimorphum , especially in the shape and color of the crown , the fruits and the seeds.
description
Vegetative characteristics
Plants of the species Capsicum longifolium are climbing shrubs with a height of 1.4 to 3 m (rarely only 0.6 m). They are weakly branched and slightly plagiotropic . Young shoots are green, fragile, hairless, and profusely covered with egg-shaped, light-colored cork cells . Later the bark turns dark green and is only sparsely covered with white cork cells. The leaves are in pairs, both leaves are strikingly different in size and shape.
The leaves are not divided and leathery. The top and bottom are slightly different in color, the top is dark green and shiny, the bottom is light green and translucent. Both leaf surfaces and the edges are hairless. The leaf blades of the larger leaves are 8.5 to 17 cm (rarely 7 to 18 cm) long and 1 to 2.5 cm (rarely only 0.8 cm) wide. They are narrowly elliptical, from the leaf axis 13 to 17 pairs of side veins go out. The base of the leaf blade is asymmetrical and narrowed, the leaf margin is entire, the tip is pointed. The petioles are 0.5 to 1.4 cm (rarely only 0.2 cm) long and hairless. The smaller leaves differ in size (only 2.5 to 5.7 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide) also in the ovoid or broadly elliptical shape, only 4 or 5 pairs of lateral veins and a short, narrowed base with a blunt tip . The leaf stalks are only 0.1 to 0.5 cm long here.
Inflorescences and flowers
The flowers are in clusters of three to seven (rarely up to nine) on a short shoot that leaves clear scars after falling off. Only rarely do the flowers stand individually. The flower stalks are green, thread-like, twisting and nodding, while being slightly curved. No knee-shaped bends can be seen during flowering. Towards the tip they become a little wider, they are 0.3 to 0.8 cm long and hairless. The flower buds are egg-shaped, yellow or purple-yellow. The calyx is 2.5 to 3 mm long and 2.8 to 3 mm wide, cup-shaped, very thin and transparent, colored light green or greenish purple. The edge is toothed, hairless and has two or three thick, triangular-compressed, green or purple-colored wings 2 to 2.5 mm long and 1.8 to 2.2 mm wide.
The crown is 6 to 8.5 mm long and measures 8 to 11 mm in diameter. It is star-shaped-bell-shaped, thick and usually completely yellow or yellow with red-brown discolouration on the edges or inside the flower. This discoloration can occur in individuals who grow under the same environmental conditions. The corolla tube is 4 to 5 mm long (rarely only 3 mm), it is hairless inside and out. The corolla lobes are 3 to 3.5 mm long (rarely up to 4 mm) and about 3 mm wide; they are broadly ovate, stand upright or protruding. They are hairless, only the tips are papilose and curved like a hood.
The five stamens are identical, the stamens are 2 to 2.6 mm long. They are white or red-brown, hairless and are about 2 mm above the base of the crown, at the point of attachment there are inconspicuous auricles . The anthers are 2 to 2.75 mm long, purple-white or brown, not inclined and elliptical in shape. The ovary is 1.6 to 1.8 mm long, measures 1.2 mm in diameter and is almost spherical, white or light green in color and hairless. The nectaries are 0.3 to 0.5 mm high and white. The pistil is 5 to 5.8 mm long, hairless, white and colored purple at the tip, it widens towards the end. The scar is 0.3 mm long and 0.2 to 0.4 mm wide, light green and slightly bilobed.
Fruits and seeds
The fruit is a 0.8 to 1.3 cm diameter, spherical berry that is slightly flattened at the top. It is initially green, but becomes orange. It is hairless, not sharp and has no giant cells or stone cells in the pericarp . On the ripe fruits, the stems have only lengthened slightly to 1 to 1.6 cm, they are hanging, twisting and widened towards the end. The calyx is persistent on the fruit, it measures 4 to 5.5 mm in diameter, is disc-shaped and colored green-purple or green. The appendages are now protruding or bent back, fleshy and awl-shaped. They can be short and wide (2 to 2.8 mm long and 2.4 to 2.6 mm wide at the base) or long and slender (4.5 to 5.5 mm long and at the base) with a width of about 1.5 mm).
There are about 24 seeds in the fruit . These are 1.7 to 2.3 mm long, 1.7 to 2.2 mm wide, not indented, inversely conical and black. The surface is network-like, the cells are rectangular or multi-sided. The side walls are smooth or slightly curved.
Distribution and locations
The species is endemic to northern Peru and southern Ecuador , where it grows in humid mountain forests at medium altitudes from 1800 to 2200 m. It grows there between other bushes and trees in the interior of the primary forest in shady locations. Other nightshade plants such as Capsicum geminifolium , nightshade and Deprea species, but also species of the genera Cyathea , Miconia , Piper , Ocotea and Anthurium have been identified as associated plants.
Botanical history
The species was in 2019 by Gloria Barboza and Segundo Leiva González means of a copy, which near the Ecuadorian city in June 2005, Loja , was collected first described . As early as 2016, specimens of the species were included in a phylogenetic study to analyze their position within the genus Capsicum . The epithet longifolium refers to the showy deciduous leaves, which are the longest and narrowest observed within the genus Capsicum .
Systematics
Within the genus Capsicum , Capsicum longifolium is classified in the Andean clade based on phylogenetic studies. Here it forms a single branch that separates it from all other types of clade.
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Morphologically, the species is characterized within the genus by the longest and narrowest leaves and the very clear sepal appendages, which can be recognized as laterally indented, thick extensions or wings. The most similar species is Capsicum dimorphum , with which it shares the color and shape of the crown, as well as the characteristics of the fruits and seeds. Capsicum longifolium does not have any trichomes on the vegetative parts and the calyx, and it differs through the long and narrow leaves and the flowers in clusters.
proof
- Gloria E. Barboza, Carolina Carrizo García, Segundo Leiva González, Marisel Scaldaferro, Ximena Reyes: Four new species of Capsicum (Solanaceae) from the tropical Andes and an update on the phylogeny of the genus. In: PLoS ONE , Volume 14, Issue 1, 2019. doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0209792 .
- Carolina Carrizo García et al .: Phylogenetic relationships, diversification and expansion of chili peppers (Capsicum, Solanaceae) . In: Annals of Botany , Volume 118, 2016. Pages 35-51. doi: 10.1093 / aob / mcw079 .
