Capsicum carassense Barboza & Bianch., PhytoKeys 140: 127. 2020.

Barboza, Gloria E., Garcia, Carolina Carrizo, Bianchetti, Luciano de Bem, Romero, Maria V. & Scaldaferro, Marisel, 2022, Monograph of wild and cultivated chili peppers (Capsicum L., Solanaceae), PhytoKeys 200, pp. 1-423 : 1

7. Capsicum carassense Barboza & Bianch., PhytoKeys 140: 127. 2020.

Figs 39 , 40

Type.

Brazil. Minas Gerais: Catas Altas, RPPN Serra do Caraca , trilha da gruta de Lourdes, após a capelinha, 20°05'41"S, 43°28'52"W, 1386 m elev., 26 Oct 2014, J.R. Stehmann, L.L. Giacomin, G.E. Barboza & S. Knapp 6347 (holotype [two sheets]: BHCB acc.#174038 [BHCB0019940_1, BHCB0019940_2]; isotypes: CORD [CORD00006968], RB [RB01220059, acc. # 674586], MBM) .

Description.

Erect shrubs (0.8-) 1-2 (-3) m tall, with the main stem somewhat thick and sparsely branched, the branches dichotomous and spreading horizontally. Young stems 3-4-angled, fragile, green, moderately to densely pubescent with uncinate and antrorse, simple, uniseriate, 3-5 (-6)-celled, eglandular trichomes 0.2-0.7 mm long, yellowish-brown when dried; nodes green or purple; bark of older stems brown, striate, pubescent; lenticels absent. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves geminate; leaf pair unequal in size, similar in shape. Leaves membranous to chartaceous, discolorous, dark green above, paler beneath, moderately pubescent especially on the veins, with simple trichomes like those of the stem and sparse or frequent glandular trichomes (stalk unicellular; head multicellular) adaxially and abaxially; blades of major leaves 6-16 cm long, 0.9-2.5 cm wide, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, the major veins 6-8 on each side of mid-vein, the mid-vein prominent and the secondary veins obscure, the base attenuate, the margins entire, the apex acute to obtuse; petioles 0.2-0.6 cm long, moderately pubescent; blades of minor leaves 2.9-3.9 cm long, 0.5-0.8 cm wide, narrowly elliptic, the major veins 2-3 (-4) on each side of mid-vein, the base attenuate, the margins entire, the apex obtuse; petioles 0.2-0.4 cm long, moderately pubescent. Inflorescences axillary, 2-4 flowers per axil; flowering pedicels (12-) 15-20 (-22) mm long, slightly angled, erect to spreading, geniculate at anthesis, green, moderately pubescent, the eglandular trichomes short or long, antrorse to spreading; pedicels scars inconspicuous. Buds ellipsoid, cream with greenish-yellow spots. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx 1.2-1.6 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, cup-shaped, thin, light green to cream, moderately pubescent with antrorse, curved, 3-5-celled, eglandular trichomes and sparse short glandular trichomes (stalk short, unicellular; head dark, elongate, multicellular), the calyx appendages five, (2.8-) 3-4 (-5) mm long, subequal, thick, erect, cylindrical, inserted very close to the margin. Corolla (8-) 10-12 mm long, 13-20 mm in diameter, thick, white with greenish-yellow spots outside, mostly with large purple spots on the lobes and the throat and cream centre within, stellate with abundant interpetalar membrane, lobed halfway or less of the way to the base, pubescent adaxially with a continuous ring of long glandular trichomes (stalk 2-3-celled; head globose, peltate, unicellular) in the throat and base of the lobes, glabrous abaxially, the tube 4.5-5 mm long, the lobes 4.5-6.5 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, broadly triangular to triangular, the margins densely pubescent, the tips cucullate. Stamens five, subequal; filaments 2.7-3.1 (-4.1) mm long, white, inserted on the corolla ca. 1 mm from the base, with auricles fused to the corolla at the point of insertion; anthers 1.5-1.9 mm long, ellipsoid, blue, not connivent at anthesis. Gynoecium with ovary 1.3-1.5 mm long, ca. 1.2 mm in diameter, light green, subglobose to ovoid; ovules more than two per locule; nectary ca. 0.3 mm tall; styles homomorphic, 4.3-5 (-7) mm long, barely exserted beyond the anthers, white, clavate; stigma ca. 0.2 mm long, ca. 0.7 mm wide, discoid, cream. Berry 6-7 mm in diameter, globose-depressed, green when immature, greenish at maturity, deciduous, pungent, the pericarp with giant cells (endocarp alveolate); stone cells absent; fruiting pedicels 18-25 mm long, pendent and slightly curved, slightly angled, widened at the apex, green; fruiting calyx ca. 4 mm in diameter, persistent, not accrescent, discoid, yellowish-green, the appendages spreading, green. Seeds 7-13 per fruit, 3.5-4 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, ellipsoid to reniform, brownish-black to black, the seed coat deeply reticulate and slightly tuberculate at margins (SM), reticulate with small pillar-like outgrowths at margins (SEM), the cells polygonal in shape, the lateral walls straight to wavy; embryo imbricate.

Distribution.

Capsicum carassense is endemic to south-eastern Minas Gerais State (Brazil), growing mainly in the Serra do Caraça and other nearby mountainous areas (Fig. 41 ).

Ecology.

Capsicum carassense inhabits the understorey of the semi-deciduous montane Atlantic Forest, in a shaded and moist environment, between 1,000 and 1,390 m elevation.

Phenology.

In flower from October to January, also in May; fruiting in December, February and April.

Chromosome number.

Not known.

Common names.

None recorded.

Uses.

None recorded.

Preliminary conservation assessment.

EOO (483.4 km2); AOO (32 km2). Capsicum carassense is considered Endangered (EN, B1ab(iii,iv)). We suggest this because of its very restricted geographic distribution, as well as the increasingly degraded habitat quality, especially associated with the extensive iron mining activities in the region ( Barboza et al. 2020a).

Discussion.

Capsicum carassense belongs to the Atlantic Forest clade ( Barboza et al. 2020a). This species is morphologically very similar to C. mirabile with which it has been confused in herbaria. Both species share a similar habit, the geniculate pedicels at anthesis, the number of calyx appendages, the shape and colour of the corolla, the colour and pungency of the fruits and the blackish seeds. They can be easily distinguished by the moderate to dense indumentum, the narrowly elliptic to lanceolate major leaves with apex acute to obtuse, the shorter petioles (up to 0.6 cm long), the cream buds with greenish-yellow pigmentation, the longer calyx appendages (up to 5 mm) and the larger corolla (13-20 mm in diameter) in C. carassense , compared to C. mirabile which has sparse pubescence (young stems sometimes glabrous), major leaves elliptic (rarely narrowly elliptic) to ovate with apex acuminate to long-acuminate, longer petioles (up to 2.5 cm), purple or greenish-purple buds, shorter calyx appendages (up to 3 mm) and smaller corolla (9-13 mm in diameter) (see also Table 4 ).

Specimens examined.

See Suppl. material 4: Appendix 4.

Figures

Figure 39. Capsicum carassense A flowering branch B-D leaf morphology E eglandular trichome of the stem F glandular trichome of the calyx G, H flower buds in different stages of development I flower J opened corolla K fruit L fruiting calyx. From Bianchetti et al. 1364. Drawn by L. Bianchetti. Published in Barboza et al. (2020 a), reproduced with permission.

Figure 40. Capsicum carassense A plant, showing the typical lanceolate leaves B inflorescence with geniculate pedicels C flower, in front view D fruit A-C from Stehmann 6344 D from Agra 7268. Photos by J. R. Stehmann. Published in Barboza et al. (2020 a), reproduced with permission.

Figure 41. Distribution of C. carassense, C. ceratocalyx and C. chacoense