Capsicum annuum
Family: Solenaceae
Plant Description: Bushy perennial to 1 m or higher. Leaves ovate, 2-5 cm long, alternate. Flowers mostly solitary, radial, 5 -lobed, from the leaf axials, the corolla 7-10 mm wide, white. Fruit red, ovoid to globose.
Plant Trivia: Genus name comes from Greek word meaning “to bite.” All pepper varieties are believed to have come from this species.
Field Identification:
Occurrence: Common on various soils in pastures and woods or around habitations.
Bloom Period: April-November
Plant Use: Favorite peppery fruits for seasoning. Food source for Mockingbirds and others. Human used of the berries in various ways: mashing fresh berries with their food; cooking them; pickling them in vinegar; and drying them and crumbling dried fragments into their food.
stxflora 