Capsicum annuum ‘Explosive Ember’
Ornamental pepper
Cayenne peppers are natives of southern North America and northern South America. Most of the peppers we eat or grow as ornamentals are cultivated from this species, including anchos, banana peppers, cayennes, de árbols, guajillos, jalapeños, anaheims, Italian sweets, pasillas, peperoncinis, pimentos, poblanos, serranos, and tabascos. (A few, habaneros among them, have other origins.) The ‘Black Pearl’ cultivar was developed by the U.S. National Arboretum, as an ornamental plant.
Plants: These peppers are perennials in warm climates, but they must be replanted from seeds in cooler climes. They are 10–14″ (25–35 cm) high, and 8–10″ (20–25 cm) around.
Leaves: New foliage is bright purple. Leaves are oblong-ovate, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, about 1–2″ (2.5–5 cm) long, and black.
Flowers: Flowers are white and purple.
Fruits: Bright red, about ¾–1″ (1.9–2.5 cm) long, generally upward-pointing.
Edibility: Like most small chili peppers, these are edible. They are quite hot—about 30,000 Scoville units—in the range of tobasco. (Note: not all ornamental peppers are edible though.)
Online References:
CalPhotos at the University of California, Berkeley (Capsicum annuum)
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Capsicum annuum)
Wikipedia (Capsicum annuum)
Flora of North America (Capsicum annuum)
References:
9/7/2010 · New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, Boylston, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 10″ (20 × 25 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Solanales | Potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, tobacco, petunias, sweet potatoes, morning glories, many others |
| Family | Solanaceae | Nightshade or potato family |
| Genus | Capsicum | From Greek κάπτω, kapto, “to bite” |
| Species | annuum | Annual |
Capsicum annuum ‘Explosive Ember’ description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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