Capsicum eshbaughii Barboza, PhytoKeys 2: 32. 2011.

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

15. Capsicum eshbaughii Barboza, PhytoKeys 2: 32. 2011.

Figs 57 , 58

Capsicum eximium Hunz. var. tomentosum Eshbaugh & P.G.Sm., Baileya 18: 15. 1971. Type. Cultivated in the Indiana University greenhouses, from seeds collected in Bolivia (Santa Cruz: Prov. Florida: 158 km W of Santa Cruz, on road to Cochabamba, 1300 m elev., P.G. Smith C281), 29 Nov 1960, C.B. Heiser C301 (lectotype, designated here: IND [IND-0105969, acc. # 139720]; isolectotypes: IND [IND-0105968, acc. # 113590, IND-0153285, acc. # 139721]).

Type.

Based on Capsicum eximium Hunz. var. tomentosum Eshbaugh & P.G.Sm.

Description.

Erect shrubs or subshrubs, 1-3 m tall, with the main stem 1.5-3 (-4) cm at base, few or much branched from near the base and with fragile and tangled branches. Young stems strongly 3-4-angled, fragile, pale green, densely pubescent with white or ochraceous, brilliant, spreading, simple, glandular trichomes (stalk 3-7-celled, head unicellular, stipitate or not stipitate) 0.1-0.8 mm long or furcate trichomes with both branches ending in an unicellular head or one branch eglandular and the other longer and glandular; nodes green; bark of older stems greyish-white or pale brown, fissured, glabrescent; lenticels absent. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves geminate; leaf pair more or less similar in size and shape. Leaves membranous, concolorous or discolorous, intense green adaxially and whitish-grey abaxially, densely pubescent on both surfaces, especially along the veins, with the same glandular trichomes like those on the stems and a few simple 3-4-celled eglandular trichomes; blades of major leaves 3.7-5.7 (-6.5) cm long, (1.6-) 2-4 cm wide, ovate, major veins 3-4 on each side of mid-vein, the base attenuate or cuneate and somewhat asymmetric, the margins entire, the apex acuminate; petioles 1.3-2.5 cm long, densely pubescent; blades of minor leaves 3-4.3 cm long, 1.4-2 cm wide, ovate, the major veins 2-3 on each side of mid-vein, the base attenuate, the margins entire, the apex acute; petioles 0.6-0.7 cm long, densely pubescent. Inflorescences axillary, 2-3 (-4) flowers per axil or more rarely flowers solitary; flowering pedicels 8-17 mm long, strongly angled, erect, geniculate at anthesis, densely glandular pubescent, the trichomes spreading; pedicel scars inconspicuous. Buds globose, white or white-purple. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx ca. 2 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide, cup-shaped, thick, green, densely glandular pubescent as stems and leaves, calyx appendages (5-) 10 (-12), 1.5-2.7 (-3) mm long, 0.1 mm wide, unequal, thin, erect, linear, inserted close to the margin, densely pubescent with the same trichomes as calyx tube. Corolla (5-) 6-7 mm long, 6-7 mm in diameter, white with greenish-yellow spots outside and within, sometimes corollas nearly white or with pale purple spots in the lobes, stellate with interpetalar membrane, lobed nearly halfway to the base, pubescent adaxially with short glandular trichomes (stalk 1-2-celled; head globose, unicellular) in the throat and base of the lobes, the tube 2-4 mm long, glabrous abaxially, the lobes 3-3.5 mm long, 3.5-4 mm wide, triangular or widely ovate, spreading, with eglandular trichomes abaxially, the margins finely ciliate, the tips acute, papillate. Stamens five, equal; filaments 2.5-3 mm long, white, inserted on the corolla 0.9-1.2 mm from the base, with auricles fused to the corolla at the point of insertion; anthers 1.5-1.7 mm long, ellipsoid, light yellow, bluish post-dehiscent, not connivent at anthesis. Gynoecium with ovary 1-1.2 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm in diameter, green, ovoid; ovules more than two per locule; nectary ca. 0.4 mm tall; styles dimorphic, 3.25-4.3 mm long, at the same level or sparsely exserted beyond the anthers, purple, clavate; stigma ca. 0.2 mm long, 0.35 mm wide, discoid, pale green. Berry (4-) 6-8 mm in diameter, globose or subglobose, dark green turning to dark brown when immature, bright red at maturity, pungent, pericarp thick, opaque, with giant cells (endocarp alveolate); stone cells absent; fruiting pedicels (10-) 15-20 mm long, erect, strongly angled, widened distally, brownish-green; the fruiting calyx 4-5 mm in diameter, persistent, not accrescent, discoid, green, the appendages 1.5-3.5 mm long, spreading. Seeds 8-20 per fruit, 3-3.5 mm long, 2.5-3.2 mm wide, C-shaped, yellow to brownish-yellow, the seed coat faintly reticulate (SM), reticulate-cerebelloid (SEM), the cells irregular in seed body, polygonal at margins, the lateral walls sinuate in seed body, straight to wavy at margins; embryo imbricate.

Distribution.

Capsicum eshbaughii is an endemic species restricted mainly to central Bolivia (Santa Cruz Department), at mid-elevation (1,300-1,800 m), with only one collection in the Department of Cochabamba, at 3,000 m (Fig. 56 ).

Ecology.

Capsicum eshbaughii is an uncommon species in dry deciduous and degraded marginal forests close to urbanised areas.

Phenology.

Flowering from November to April. Fruiting from February to April.

Chromosome number.

2 n = 2x = 24 ( Carrizo García et al. 2020).

Common name.

Bolivia. Ulupica (Santa Cruz, Eshbaugh 1943; Nee 43483).

Uses.

Fruits are used as condiments (Nee 43483).

Preliminary conservation assessment.

EOO (365.297 km2); AOO (24 km2). Capsicum eshbaughii has a small geographical extent and area of occupancy and is known from only 10 collections, the majority of them from Samaipata and surroundings. As far as we know, this species is only found in anthropogenically disturbed areas ( Carrizo García et al. 2020) in small subpopulations, thus we assign C. eshbaughii the threat status of Endangered (EN; B1ab(ii,iii)). Recently, C. eshbaughii was found in new sites around Samaipata (dal Zovo, pers. comm. 2019).

Discussion.

Capsicum eshbaughii was assigned to the Purple corolla clade (sister to C. eximium , Carrizo García et al. 2016).). As mentioned above for C. cardenasii , the circumscription of this clade is being revised (CCG, pers. obs.); more details are presented under C. pubescens description. This is a poorly known species from not more than 10 collections, the majority of them in fruit. Capsicum eshbaughii can be distinguished from other species by its combination of dense, glandular pubescence covering the vegetative organs, pedicels and calyx, the presence of (5-) 10 (-12) linear unequal calyx appendages and the lack of purple pigmentation in the corollas (usually) (Fig. 58 ). The indumentum consists of different types of glandular trichomes ( Barboza 2011): long simple trichomes with multicellular stalks and unicellular stipitate or not stipitate heads are the most common; short trichomes with bicellular stalks and multicellular heads appear in the calyx and are rare; and furcate trichomes with both branches ending in a unicellular head or one eglandular branch and the other longer and glandular are also common. Eglandular simple or furcate trichomes also appear sparsely intermixed amongst the glandular trichomes.

Experimental studies have shown that C. eshbaughii hybridises freely with C. eximium and C. cardenasii , the others ‘ulupicas’, producing highly fertile hybrids ( Eshbaugh and Smith 1971). However, natural hybrids between C. eshbaughii and C. eximium , this latter a more or less sympatric species ( Carrizo García et al. 2016), have not been found to date.

Barboza (2011), following the protologue, cited IND as the location of the holotype of C. eximium var. tomentosum . In IND, however, there are three specimens, so a lectotypification is needed. The sheets at IND are flowering branches with the collection date cited in the protologue of 29 November 1960; these are all syntypes. The two specimens housed at MU were gathered on different dates, one of them is dated 8 June 1960 (MU000020803, acc. # 153648) and the other (MU000020804, acc. # 153649) lacks a collection date; these are, therefore, from a different gathering and are not type material as cited in Barboza (2011). In DAV, there are another nine specimens grown from the same Smith seed collection in the University of California at Davis greenhouse with unknown dates of harvest. None of these specimens is type material. We designate IND-0105969 (acc. # 139720) as the lectotype, because it is the most well-preserved of the specimens at IND.

Specimens examined.

See Suppl. material 4: Appendix 4.

Figures

Figure 56. Distribution of C. dimorphum and C. eshbaughii.

Figure 57. Capsicum eshbaughii A flowering branch B eglandular trichome of the leaf C flower D, E furcate glandular trichomes of the pedicel F fruiting calyx G glandular trichome of the abaxial surface of the calyx H, I glandular trichomes of the adaxial surface of the calyx J sector of opened corolla K gynoecium L fruit M seed N embryo A-E, G-K from Eshbaugh 1943 b F, L-N from Nee 36164. Drawn by P. Peralta. Published in Barboza (2011), reproduced with permission.

Figure 58. Capsicum eshbaughii A plant B flower buds C flower, in pre-anthesis D-G stellate corollas with different colouration patterns H flower buds and flower in anthesis, seen from behind I immature fruit J mature fruits A, E, H-J from Carrizo Garcia 67, photos by G. E. Barboza and C. Carrizo Garcia B, C, D, F, G from Palombo 19, photos by N. Palombo.