ABSTRACT
Capsicum is a genus belonging to the family Solanaceae and is closely related to the genus Solanum. Capsicum became cosmopolitan after Columbus imported the plants from the New World. Hlowever, archeological records indicate that capsicum pepper was already being used much earlier — it was found in strata dating from 7000 B.C.E. in Mexico and from 2000 B.C.E. in Peru. Capsicum annuum includes a vast number of horticultural cvs. Virtually all of the larger-fruited cvs in the temperate zones and almost all of the commercially important pungent as well as non-pungent cvs belong to C. annuum. The juvenile period in pepper is short and is expressed only when the apical development is retarded by low temperature, plant growth retardants, or pinching. Flowers in Capsicum are formed under diverse environmental conditions, indicating the flexibility of the genus in regard to the initiation of flower primordia. Growth regulators delayed flowering in different ways.
