Capsicum cardenasii

Capsicum cardenasii is a wild Bolivian species first formally described in 1958 by Heiser and P. G. Smith in Brittonia. It belongs to the purple corolla clade and is closely allied with Capsicum eximium and Capsicum pubescens. In Bolivia it is known as ulupica, and its fruit are used as a condiment, spice, and pickle pepper in local kitchens.

The plant is an erect shrubby perennial, commonly around 60 to 90 cm tall, with slender woody growth and green foliage. The leaves are narrow to ovate-lanceolate and pubescent, and the species is noted for its hairy vegetative parts. This hairy growth, together with its small-fruited habit, is one of the traits that helps define its appearance among the Bolivian wild peppers.

Its flowers are pendent and campanulate with a short tubular form rather than a flat stellate shape. Descriptions of the corolla range from white-and-purple to a more complex sequence with pale green in the throat, yellow, dark violet, violet, and white toward the lobes, giving the flowers a very distinctive look. The flowering pedicels are non-geniculate, a trait repeatedly noted in taxonomic treatments of the species.

The fruit are small, round berries about 1 cm across, ripening from green to red. They are pungent, commonly placed around 30000 SHU, and usually contain only a small number of seeds. The species is especially notable botanically because self-incompatibility is reported as characteristic of Capsicum cardenasii throughout its limited Bolivian range, making it stand out within the genus as well as within the ulupica group.