C. frutesens is sometimes called goat pepper and is generally described as the true cayenne. Its leaves are from 3 in. to 6 in. long by 2 in. to 3½ in. wide, the fruit is red, obtuse or oblong accumminate, ¾ to 1½ in. long and ¼ to ¾ in. in diameter. It is very acrid and pungent. It is only cultivated in the tropical regions, as the seasons in the temperate climate are not long enuf to mature the fruit.
C. baccatum is ovate of sub-round and about ¼ in. in diameter. C. baccatum have been known in the English gardens since 1731.
C. facticulatum, also known as Mexican chilies, is a shrubby plant of Sierra Leone, and grows in Zanzibar; also known as small chilies, or red cluster peppers. The fruit, which grows erect, is oblong linear, not quite an inch in length and of a deep red orange color. Another variety, which are mostly consumed locally, have larger red and yellow fruit. Zanzibar capsicums or chilies, are dirty looking, of a brownish-red color and very hot. A variety from Japan are bright red, not so pungent as the other growths, but of finer aroma.
C. ceresiforme, the fruit is spherical, sub-cordate, oblate or occasionally pointed. The flesh is firm, from 1-12 to ½ in. thick, and very pungent; from the shape of its fruit it is called the cherry capsicum, or pepper.
C. grossum, originally from India, grows 2 ft. high, with a few branches and large leaves 3 to 5 in. long, the fruit is large, oblong or ovate, and is known as bell pepper; it is mostly used for stuffing and pickling; the skin being thick, soft and tender and of a mild flavor.
C. abberciatum, with ovate fruit about 2 in. long. While this variety is used to some extent for pickling, it is cultivated more as an ornamental plant.
C. longum grows to about 3 ft. high with comparatively few branches, the fruit is often a foot long and 2 in. in diameter. The flesh is thick and flavor mild.
C. Acumination is about 2½ ft. high. The fruit, which is small, grows both erect and pendent.
C. Conordes, with oblong linear fruit, which grows erect, is very acrid and pungent. It is known as tabasco capsicum or pepper. Bird pepper, bird’s-eye chilies, red-bird pepper, etc., are commercial names given to the mild, sweet varieties of capsicum on account of their being fed to birds. Nepaul pepper, commercial name for capsicum imported from that place in India. Nepaul pepper has an odor and flavor resembling orris root and a pod the color of amber when dried. It is most esteemed as a condiment, being aromatic and appetizing, and not so acrid or biting as is most cayenne. Paprika, commercial name for the mild, sweet varieties of capsicum, chiefly grown in Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Jamaica, Japan and Zanzibar.
Japanese pepper is the fruit of Xanthoxylum, an entirely different genus of plants to the capsicum family. The fruit capsules when bruised are agreeably pungent and aromatic. It is much esteemed as a condiment in China and Japan.