Monographs Details:
Authority:
Acevedo-RodrÃguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
Acevedo-RodrÃguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
Family:
Solanaceae
Solanaceae
Description:
Species Description - Subshrub, 0.4-1.5 m tall, with drooping branches; twigs nearly cylindrical to slightly angled, puberulent, becoming glabrous with age. Leaf blades 1.5-9 x 0.9-5 cm, elliptic, ovate, to lanceolate, chartaceous, the lower surface puberulent, especially in the axils of veins, the apex short-acuminate to acute, the base acute, cuneate, or obtuse to rounded, the margins wavy; petioles 0.5-2 cm long. Flowers solitary in leaf axils or less often paired, reflexed; pedicels 4-8 mm long (much longer in fruits), puberulent or glabrous. Calyx bell-shaped, truncate to minutely toothed at apex, 1-1.5 mm long; corolla white, 2-2.5 mm long, the lobes spreading, slightly reflexed at tips, anthers violet, connivent around the style. Berry ovoid, 6-9 mm long, turning from dark green to yellow and finally red; cultivated forms varying in shape and color. Seeds numerous, lenticular, light brown, ca. 3 mm long.
Species Description - Subshrub, 0.4-1.5 m tall, with drooping branches; twigs nearly cylindrical to slightly angled, puberulent, becoming glabrous with age. Leaf blades 1.5-9 x 0.9-5 cm, elliptic, ovate, to lanceolate, chartaceous, the lower surface puberulent, especially in the axils of veins, the apex short-acuminate to acute, the base acute, cuneate, or obtuse to rounded, the margins wavy; petioles 0.5-2 cm long. Flowers solitary in leaf axils or less often paired, reflexed; pedicels 4-8 mm long (much longer in fruits), puberulent or glabrous. Calyx bell-shaped, truncate to minutely toothed at apex, 1-1.5 mm long; corolla white, 2-2.5 mm long, the lobes spreading, slightly reflexed at tips, anthers violet, connivent around the style. Berry ovoid, 6-9 mm long, turning from dark green to yellow and finally red; cultivated forms varying in shape and color. Seeds numerous, lenticular, light brown, ca. 3 mm long.
Discussion:
Common name: wild pepper.
Distribution:
West Indies| Puerto Rico South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America|
West Indies| Puerto Rico South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America|