Capsicum longifolium Barboza & S.Leiva, PLOS One 14(1): 7. 2019.

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

26. Capsicum longifolium Barboza & S.Leiva, PLOS One 14(1): 7. 2019.

Figs 83 , 84

Type.

Ecuador. Zamora-Chinchipe: Area of Estacion Cientifica San Francisco , road Loja-Zamora, ca. 35 km from Loja, transect Q2, 03°58'S, 79°04'W, 1900 m elev., 12 Jun 2005, F.A.Werner 1548 (holotype: QCA [160608]; isotypes: LOJA, NY [01130066]) .

Description.

Erect, scandent shrubs (0.60-) 1.40-3 m tall, laxly branched above, the branches bending down. Young stems angled, fragile, green, glabrous; nodes green or purplish-green; bark of older stems striate, dark green, glabrous; lenticels ovoid, whitish to light brown. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves geminate; leaf pair markedly unequal in size and shape. Leaves coriaceous, slightly discolorous, adaxial surface dark green and shiny, abaxial surface light green and opaque, glabrous on both surfaces and margins; blades of major leaves (7-) 8.5-17 (-18) cm long, (0.8-) 1-2.5 cm wide, narrowly elliptic, the major veins (11-) 13-17 on each side of mid-vein, the base asymmetric and attenuate, the margins entire, the apex acuminate; petioles (0.2-) 0.5-1.4 cm long, glabrous; blades of minor leaves 2.5-5.7 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, ovate or broadly elliptic, the major veins 4-5 on each side of mid-vein, the base short-attenuate, sometimes asymmetric, the margins entire, the apex obtuse; petioles 0.1-0.5 cm long, glabrous. Inflorescences axillary, 3-7 (-9) flowers per axil or sometimes on a short rachis, rarely flowers solitary; flowering pedicels 3-8 mm long, filiform, terete, pendent, slightly curved, non-geniculate at anthesis, green, glabrous; pedicels scars inconspicuous. Buds ovoid, yellow or purplish-yellow. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx 2.5-3 mm long, 2.8-3 mm wide, cup-shaped, membranous, translucent, light green or greenish-purple, glabrous, the calyx appendages 2-3, 2-2.5 mm long, 1.8-2.2 mm wide, subequal, thick, green or purple, oblique or spreading, triangular-compressed, wing-like, glabrous. Corolla 6-8.5 mm long, 8-11 mm in diameter, thick, entirely yellow or yellow with red-brown pigmentation in the throat or at margin lobes within, campanulate-stellate, without or with a thin interpetalar membrane, lobed 1/3 to nearly halfway to the base, glabrous adaxially and abaxially, the tube (3-) 4-5 mm long, the lobes 3-3.5 (-4) mm long, ca. 3 mm wide, broadly ovate, erect or spreading, the tips cucullate and papillate. Stamens five, equal; filaments 2-2.6 mm long, white or red-brown, inserted on the corolla ca. 2 mm from the base, with auricles fused to the corolla at the point of insertion; anthers 2-2.75 mm long, ellipsoid, purplish-white or brown, connivent at anthesis. Gynoecium with ovary 1.6-1.8 mm long, 1.2 mm in diameter, white or light green, subglobose; ovules more than two per locule; nectary 0.3-0.5 mm tall; styles homomorphic, 5-5.8 mm long, exserted 1-1.4 mm beyond the anthers, white and lilac at the apex or red-brown, clavate; stigma 0.3 mm long, 0.2-0.4 mm wide, somewhat bilobed, light green. Berry 8-13 mm in diameter, globose, slightly flattened at the apex, green when immature, orange at maturity, deciduous, non-pungent, the pericarp thick, opaque, lacking giant cells (endocarp smooth); stone cells absent; fruiting pedicels 10-16 mm long, pendent, terete, widened distally, green; fruiting calyx 4-5.5 mm in diameter, persistent, not accrescent, discoid, green-purple or green, the appendages short and wide (2-2.8 mm long, 2.4-2.6 mm wide at base) or long and more slender (4.5-5.5 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm wide at base), spreading or reflexed, green-purple or green. Seeds ca. 24 per fruit, 1.7-2.3 mm long, 1.7-2.2 mm wide, D- or teardrop-shaped, black, the seed coat reticulate (SM and SEM), the cells rectangular or polygonal in shape, the lateral walls straight or slightly sinuate; embryo annular.

Distribution.

Capsicum longifolium is endemic to northern Peru (Amazonas, Cajamarca, Junín and Piura Departments) and southern Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe Province) (Fig. 78 ).

Ecology.

Capsicum longifolium is a plant of Andean montane wet forests, in the interior of primary forests in shady areas at mid-elevations (1,800-2,200 m).

Phenology.

Flowering and fruiting from December to August (probably all year).

Chromosome number.

2 n = 2x = 26 ( Barboza et al. 2019).

Common names.

None recorded.

Uses.

None recorded.

Preliminary conservation assessment.

EOO (67,266.225 km2); AOO (24 km2). Although C. longifolium has been collected many times in San Francisco Biological Reserve (SFBR, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador), it is known from only five other locations in areas not included in the National System of Protected Areas where the quality of its habitat probably will decline. Based on this, we suggest a status of Vulnerable (VU; B2ab(iii).

Discussion.

Capsicum longifolium is strongly resolved within the Andean clade ( Barboza et al. 2019). It is unique in the genus in having the longest and narrowest leaves and striking calyx appendages that arise from the calyx tube as laterally compressed thick expansions or wings (Fig. 84D, E, I ). Variation in corolla colour and length of the fruiting calyx appendages can be observed in the field in individuals growing under the same environmental conditions. The corolla is usually entirely yellow (Fig. 84E, H, I ), but occasional plants have corolla lobes that are red- to brown-edged (Fig. 84J, K ) or have a red-brown ring within the corolla throat (Fig. 84F ); in this latter case, the filaments and the style are also red-brown. In general, the calyx appendages do not enlarge considerably in fruit (Fig. 4L, N ), but some specimens have long appendages (Fig. 84M ).

Capsicum longifolium is morphologically most similar to C. dimorphum , its sister species and to C. regale with which it shares the stellate yellow corollas, the non-pungent fruits and the black seeds. Capsicum longifolium can be distinguished from C. dimorphum by having completely glabrous vegetative organs and calyces, long and narrow (ratio 6-10.8), coriaceous, major leaves, flowers 3-7 (-9) on a short rachis and calyces with 2-3 thick triangular-compressed appendages that look like wings. In contrast, C. dimorphum has pubescent vegetative organs and calyces, shorter and wider (ratio 4-5.25), membranous, major leaves, solitary or up to five axillary flowers and no calyx appendages or, if appendages are present, they are three and minute (Fig. 55 ). Capsicum regale differs from C. longifolium in its occasionally forked inflorescence (vs. unbranched in C. longifolium ), elliptic (vs. narrowly elliptic) major leaves, dark purple pedicels in fruit (vs. green) and purple (vs. orange) berries. Another species of Capsicum sympatric with C. longifolium (especially in SFBR, Ecuador) is C. geminifolium ; that species has a dense indumentum, long-acuminate leaves, thin calyx appendages and campanulate yellow corollas with many purple or maroon spots within (Fig. 72 ).

Specimens examined.

See Suppl. material 4: Appendix 4.

Figures

Figure 4. Glandular trichomes of Capsicum species. Scale bar: 50 μm (A-G, I); 100 μm (H, J).

Figure 55. Capsicum dimorphum A plant B, C flower buds of different colour D, E flowers, in lateral view, with different corolla colour outside F, G flowers, in front view, with different colouration patterns in the corolla within H immature fruit I mature fruit A, H, I from Beltran 140, photos by G. Beltran B-G from Orejuela R. et al. 2685, photos by G. E. Barboza.

Figure 72. Capsicum geminifolium A plant B main stem with lenticels C flowering branch D flower bud E flower, in lateral view, with long calyx appendages F flower, with short calyx appendages G flower, in pre-anthesis H, I corollas, in front view, with different colouration patterns within J immature fruit K mature fruit A, B, D, J from Barboza & Leiva Gonzalez 4845 C, G from Deanna & Leiva Gonzalez 3 E, I from Barboza & Leiva Gonzalez 4852 F, H from Deanna & Leiva Gonzalez 77 K from Orejuela R. 2688 A, B, D, E, I, J photos by G. E. Barboza C, F-H photos by R. Deanna K photo by A. Orejuela.

Figure 78. Distribution of C. hunzikerianum, C. longidentatum and C. longifolium.

Figure 83. Capsicum longifolium A reproductive branch B flower C opened corolla D, E, F anthers, ventral, lateral and dorsal views, respectively G gynoecium H ovary, in cross section I fruit J seed. From Barboza & Leiva Gonzalez 4849. Drawn by S. Leiva Gonzalez. Published in Barboza et al. (2019), reproduced with permission.

Figure 84. Capsicum longifolium A plant B internode with lenticels C, D flower buds E Flower, in longitudinal section F flowers showing corolla yellow with brownish centre G flower, in lateral view H, I flowers with completely yellow corollas, upper and lateral views, respectively J, K flowers with yellow corollas and red-brown edges, upper and lateral view, respectively L, M immature fruits N mature fruit A, C, H, I from Barboza & Leiva Gonzalez 4821 B, D, E, L, N from Barboza & Leiva Gonzalez 4846 F, G from Barboza & Leiva Gonzalez 4850 J, K, M from Barboza & Leiva Gonzalez 4851. Photos by S. Leiva Gonzalez and G. E. Barboza. Published in Barboza et al. (2019), reproduced with permission.