Capsicum annuum (capsicum pepper, "Togarashi")

Japanese name: トウガラシ （唐辛子）
Scientific name: Capsicum annuum

[Overview]
A perennial that branches well and becomes semi-shrubby.
The leaves are simple and alternate, elliptic to lanceolate, with entire margins.
The flowers are borne in the leaf axils at the stem tips, solitary or in clusters of several, and bloom facing downward to sideways; they are white or purple.
The corolla is 5–7-lobed.
The fruit is a fleshy berry that comes in various shapes, such as conical, spherical and long cylindrical, and in various colors, such as red, orange, yellow and purple.
There are types for fresh use as a vegetable, for processing, for spice, and for ornament, and each has its own distinct group of cultivars.

[History]
As a spice, Togarashi has been cultivated in its native region for more than 2,000 years; after Columbus brought it to Spain, it was introduced to India by the Portuguese and then spread to Southeast Asia.
There are various theories, but it arrived in Japan from the mid- to late 1500s and spread to various regions during the Edo period.
Non-pungent cultivars for use as a fresh vegetable were introduced in the Meiji period.

[Uses]
Besides its use as a spice, the fruit is sometimes used medicinally for muscle pain, frostbite and similar conditions.

[Cultivation]
In horticulture it is grown as an annual.
The cultivation method differs among the types grown as fresh vegetables, as spice, and as ornamentals.
Care is needed to avoid problems from continuous cropping.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)