Capsicum galapagoense Hunz., Huitieme Congr. Int. Bot. Paris, Comptes Rend. Seances Rapp. & Commun. 1954, sect.4: 73. 1956.

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

20. Capsicum galapagoense Hunz., Huitieme Congr. Int. Bot. Paris, Comptes Rend. Seances Rapp. & Commun. 1954, sect.4: 73. 1956.

Fig. 70

Brachistus pubescens Stewart, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 1: 137. 1911. Type. Ecuador. Galápagos: Albemarle Island [= Isabela], Villamil, 450-600 ft elev., 3 Jan 1906, A. Stewart 3352 (lectotype, designated by Barboza 2011, pg. 26: CAS [0001526, acc. # 1244]; isolectotypes: B [B10-0176773], GH [00076931], US [01108008, acc. # 921602]).

Capsicum galapagense Heiser & P.G.Sm., Brittonia 10: 200. 1958, nom. illeg., not Capsicum galapagoense Hunz. (1956). Type. Based on Brachistus pubescens Stewart

Type.

Based on Brachistus pubescens Stewart.

Description.

Erect low shrubs, 0.5-1 m tall, much branched from near the base. Young stems terete to slightly 2-3-angled, fragile, densely white or yellowish-white (when dry) pubescent, with spreading, simple, uniseriate, 3-7-celled, eglandular trichomes 0.3-1.5 mm long; nodes green; bark of older stems brown, glabrescent; lenticels absent. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves geminate; leaf pair unequal in size, similar in shape. Leaves membranous, slightly discolorous, densely pubescent on both surfaces, especially on the veins, with similar eglandular trichomes to the stems, plus sparse small glandular trichomes and occasionally furcate eglandular trichomes; blades of major leaves 2-6 (-8) cm long, 0.9-2.8 (-3.5) cm wide, ovate, the major veins 3-5 on each side of mid-vein, the base cuneate or truncate and asymmetric, the margins entire, the apex slightly acuminate; petioles 0.5-1.5 cm long, densely pubescent; blades of minor leaves 1.1-1.95 cm long, 0.3-0.7 cm wide, ovate, the major veins 3-4 on each side of mid-vein, the base cuneate or truncate and asymmetric, the margins entire, the apex acute or obtuse; petioles 0.2-0.7 cm long, densely pubescent. Inflorescences axillary, 1-2-flowered; flowering pedicels 6-8 mm long, short, angled, erect to slightly spreading, geniculate at anthesis, densely pubescent, the eglandular trichomes long, spreading; pedicel scars conspicuous. Buds ovoid, white. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx 1.3-1.6 (-2) mm long, 1.8-2 mm wide, cup-shaped, circular in outline, thin, green, densely pubescent with the same trichomes as stems and leaves, the calyx appendages absent. Corolla 4-5 mm long, ca. 6 mm in diameter, entirely white or dull white outside and within, stellate without interpetalar membrane, lobed nearly halfway to the base, the tube 2-2.5 mm long, pubescent adaxially with sparse short glandular trichomes (stalk unicellular; head globose, unicellular), glabrous abaxially, the lobes 2.3-2.5 mm long, ca. 2.5 mm wide, ovate, spreading, glabrous adaxially and abaxially, the margins papillate, the tips acute, papillate. Stamens five, equal; filaments 1-1.3 mm long, white, inserted on the corolla ca. 0.7-1 mm from the base, with auricles fused to the corolla at point of insertion; anthers 0.9-1.3 mm long, ellipsoid, yellow, connivent at anthesis. Gynoeciumm with ovary 0.9-1.3 mm long, 0.8-1 mm in diameter, ovoid; ovules more than two per locule; nectary ca. 0.3 mm tall; styles homomorphic, 2.25-2.5 mm long, exserted 0.5-0.8 mm beyond the anthers, cylindrical, white; stigma 0.09 mm long, ca. 0.24 mm wide, discoid. Berry 5-7 mm in diameter, globose or somewhat ellipsoid, dark green when immature, red-orange or bright red at maturity, deciduous, pungent, the pericarp thick, opaque, with giant cells (endocarp alveolate); stone cells absent; fruiting pedicels 8-18 (-22) mm long, erect, slightly angled or terete, widened distally, green; fruiting calyx 2.8-4 mm in diameter, persistent, not accrescent, discoid, green. Seeds 8-9 per fruit, 3.5-4 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, flattened, C-shaped to reniform, pale yellow, the seed coat smooth (SM), cerebelloid (SEM), the cells irregular in seed body and polygonal at superior margin, the lateral walls sinuate in seed body, wavy at margins; embryo annular or imbricate.

Distribution.

Capsicum galapagoense is endemic to the Galápagos Archipelago of Ecuador (Islands of Bartolomé, Fernandina, Isabela, Santa Cruz, Santiago, Rabida and Pinta) (Fig. 66 ).

Ecology.

Capsicum galapagoense grows in shade under shrubs or small trees in the arid lowlands to moist uplands of the islands ( Pisonia , Scalesia or Croton forests); 15-900 m elevation.

Phenology.

Flowering and fruiting from December to August and likely all year.

Chromosome number.

n = 12 (Heiser and Smith 1958); 2 n = 2x = 24 ( Pickersgill 1977; Moscone et al. 2007).

Common names.

None recorded.

Uses.

None recorded.

Preliminary conservation assessment.

EOO (ca. 8000 km2); AOO (56 km2). Based on the number of locations and the area of occupancy, these suggest an Endangered (EN; B2ab(iii)) category for Capsicum galapagoense . The threats in the Galápagos, such as land-use activities, introduced alien plants in the inhabited islands and the population explosion of goats and pigs in the uninhabited ones (e.g. Islas Bartolomé, Fernandina or Rabida), have caused serious ecological problems that need to be addressed urgently to protect the rare and endemic species of the islands ( Adsersen 1989).

Discussion.

Capsicum galapagoense belongs to the Annuum clade ( Carrizo García et al. 2016). It is the only wild native species found in the Galapagos Islands. It is unique in having dense pubescence throughout and the smallest flowers in the genus (Fig. 70A, C ). It is superficially similar to C. annuum var. glabriusculum in its habit, lack of calyx appendages (Fig. 70C, D ), white corollas, small, red, pungent fruits and pale yellow seeds. The two taxa are not sympatric. Three other Capsicum species grow in the Galápagos ( McMullen 1999): 1) C. frutescens is cultivated or escaped from cultivation and can be distinguished from C. galapagoense in its sparse general pubescence, larger greenish-white to greenish-yellow corollas and elongate, conical fruits; 2) the commonly cultivated C. annuum var. annuum can be distinguished by its larger white corollas and diversely-shaped fruits; and 3) C. baccatum var. pendulum distinguished by its white corollas with greenish-yellow spots within and large pendent fruits.

Capsicum galapagoense is self-compatible and has been experimentally crossed with members of the Annuum clade ( C. annuum , C. chinense , C. frutescens ) and the Baccatum clade ( C. baccatum wild, C. rabenii , C. chacoense ); no incompatibilities were found in any direction. Based on this breeding evidence, there is the potential for hybridisation between C. annuum or C. frutescens and C. galapagoense , although McMullen (1999) considered this unlikely.

Specimens examined.

See Suppl. material 4: Appendix 4.

Figures

Figure 66. Distribution of C. friburgense, C. galapagoense and C. geminifolium.

Figure 70. Capsicum galapagoense A flowering branch B eglandular trichome of the leaf C flower D calyx E section of the calyx showing the venation F sector of opened corolla G gynoecium H fruit I anatomical detail of the pericarp (note the giant cell in the mesocarp) J seed K seed, in cross section L structure of seed coat at the seed margin M structure of seed coat at the seed body N embryo A, B from Stewart 3351 C-G from Taylor G 11 H-N from Schimpf 20. Drawn by L. Ochoa.