Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 77 SOL~VACEAE 209
collected in Dominica in woodlands: Layou River valley (Ernst
1264, Soufriere (Lloyd 439, South Chiltern (Hodge 1556);
seen around houses but not collected.
Cultivated by Caribs for relish, seasoning, and medicinal
purposes (Hodge and Taylor, 1957:603). Adjanohoun et al.
(1985:175-177, pl. 142-143) reported medicinal uses for both
Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens.
Plasticity and selection have largely obscured relationships
in cultivated peppers. Characters of fruits, long used to separate
species, have proven unreliable. Recent workers (as Howard,
1989, 6:271) have separated Capsicum annuum (bell pepper)
from C. frutescens (shrubby chili pepper), and their wild
counterparts, including Capsicum annuum var. aviculare
(Dierbach) D’Arcy & Eshbaugh. More recently, workers have
found the wild progenitors of the two cultivated peppers to be
largely inseparable and recognize only one species, C. annuum.
The Dominican collections seen, all wild, correspond to C.
annuum var. frutescens (Linnaeus) Kuntze. Two other peppers
are probably cultivated in Dominica: Capsicum annuum var.
annuum, the common garden bell pepper, and Capsicum
chinense Jacquin, a pepper with thick-walled, often pink fruits.
Cestrum Linnaeus
The following species, both with showy inflorescences to 10
cm long, are presumed to be only cultivated: Cestrum diurnum
Linnaeus (Little et al., 19745376, pl. 691), with clustered
flowers and corolla