or Guinea-pepper, a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the pentandria class of plants.

Species. 1. The annuum, with oblong fruit, is the common long-podded capsicum commonly cultivated in the gardens. Of this there is one kind with red, and another with yellow fruit; and of these there are several varieties, differing only in the size and figure of their fruit. 2. The tetragonum, commonly called bell pepper. The fruit of this is red, and is the only kind proper for pickling, the skin being tender; whereas those of the other sorts are thin and tough. The pods are from an inch to an inch and half or two inches long; are very large, swelling, and wrinkled, flatted at the top, where they are angular, and sometimes stand erect, at others grow downward. 3. The cerasiforme, with a round smooth fruit, doth not grow so tall as the other sorts, but spreads near the ground; the leaves come out in clutters, are of a shining green, and stand on long footstalks. The fruit is of a beautiful red, and of the size of a cherry. 4. The pyramide, is a native of Egypt, and hath much narrower leaves than the other sorts. The pods always grow erect, and are produced in great plenty, so that the plants make a good appearance for three months in the winter. 5. The minimum, commonly called bird-pepper, rises with a shrubby stalk four or five feet high; the leaves are of a lucid green; the fruit grows at the division of the branches, standing erect; these are small, oval, and of a bright red; they are much more sharp and biting than those of the other sorts. Besides these species, botanists describe as many more; viz. the cordiforme, with heart-shaped fruit; the anguloflum, with angular heart-shaped fruit; the olivaforme, with oval fruit; the conoide, commonly called hen-pepper, with a conical red fruit growing erect; and the frutescens, with small pyramidal fruit growing erect; commonly called Barbary pepper. These, however, have no remarkable properties different from the others.

Culture. The three first species are annual plants, and must be propagated by seeds sown on a hot-bed in the spring, and treated in the same manner with other exotics; they will however bear the open air, after being inured to it by degrees. The plants of the second sort, whose fruit is used for pickling, should be taken from the hot-bed, and planted in a rich spot of ground in a warm situation about a foot and an half asunder. They must be shaded till they have taken root, and afterwards duly watered in dry weather, which will greatly promote their growth and cause them to be more fruitful, and likewise enlarge the size of the fruit. By this management, three or four crops of fruit for pickling may be obtained the same year. The other sorts are more tender; and therefore must be planted in pots plunged in a moderate hot-bed, and sheltered under a frame.

Uses, &c. The second sort, as already observed, produces fruit fit for pickling; for which purpose they must be gathered before they arrive at their full size, while their rind is tender. They must be slit down on one side to get out the seeds, after which they should be soaked two or three days in salt and water; when they are taken out of this and drained, boiling vinegar must be poured on them in a sufficient quantity to cover them, and closely flopped down for two months; then they should be boiled in the vinegar to make them green; but they want no addition of any spice, and are the wholesomest and best pickle in the world. The tenth species is used for making what is called cayenne-butter, or pepper-pot, by the inhabitants of America, and which they esteem the best of all the spices. The following is a receipt for making of a pepper-pot. Take of the ripe seeds of this sort of capsicum, and dry them well in the sun; then put them into an earthen or stone pot, mixing flour between every stratum of pods; and put them into an oven after the baking of bread, that they may be thoroughly dried; after which they must be well cleansed from the flour; and if any of the stalks remain adhering to the pods, they should be taken off, and the pods reduced to a fine powder; to every ounce of this add a pound of wheat-flour, and as much leaven as is sufficient for the quantity intended. After this has been properly mixed and wrought, it should be made into small cakes, and baked in the same manner as common cakes of the same size; then cut them into small parts, and bake them again, that they may be as dry and hard as biscuit; which being powdered and sifted, is to be kept for use. This is prodigiously hot and acrimonious, setting the mouth as it were on fire. It is by some recommended as a medicine for flatulencies; but it is greatly to be doubted whether all those hot irritating medicines are not productive of more harm than good, in this country at least. If the ripe pods of capsicum are thrown into the fire, they will raise strong and noisome vapours, which occasion vehement sneezing, coughing, and often vomiting, in those who are near the place, or in the room where they are burnt. Some persons have mixed the powder of the pods with snuff, to give to others for diversion; but where it is in quantity, there may be danger in using it; for it will occasion such violent fits of sneezing, as to break the blood-vessels of the head.