Capsicum minutiflorum

Capsicum minutiflorum is a wild Bolivian species first described by Rusby in 1927 as Bassovia minutiflora and later transferred to Capsicum by Hunziker in 1956. It is currently accepted as Capsicum minutiflorum and is native to western central and central Bolivia. Phylogenetic work places it in the Bolivian clade alongside C. caballeroi, C. coccineum, and C. ceratocalyx, and field work in Bolivia has recorded it in the Amboró region growing in subtropical semi-deciduous forest at about 300 to 1000 m, especially in shady, moist places.

The plant has a shrubby habit and is commonly described as reaching about 1 to 2 m tall. Its leaves are ovate-lanceolate and dark green, and the plant commonly produces multiple flowers and fruits per node. One of its key structural traits is the erect, geniculate flowering pedicel, while the fruiting pedicel shows a conspicuous annular constriction. The calyx is weakly nerved and bears 5 equal short appendages or teeth, and the corolla is stellate and yellow, with darker yellow-green spotting in the throat.

The fruit are small, spherical to slightly irregular berries that mature from green to deep red. They may be erect, intermediate, or pendulous depending on the plant, and the seeds are described as brownish-grey to straw-coloured and somewhat irregular in shape. Published accounts agree that the species is variable in pungency, but they place it in the low-heat range overall, with some plants nearly heatless and some field-collected fruit distinctly hot. This variability in heat is one of the main features repeatedly noted for the species.

Capsicum minutiflorum is also notable for its ecological role in Bolivia. A 2025 study on stingless bees found that its pollen dominated pollen stores in multiple hives, reaching up to 98.7% of pollen composition, and that its pollen had very high protein content. That gives the species added significance beyond taxonomy, linking this small wild Bolivian pepper to local pollinator foraging systems in a very direct way.