CAYENNE PEPPER (Guinea Pepper, Spanish Pepper, Chilly), a preparation from the dried fruit of various species of Capsicum, a genus of the family Solanaceae. The true peppers are members of a totally distinct family Piperaceae. The fruits of Capsicum have all a strong, pungent flavour. The capsicums bear a greenish-white flower, with a star-shaped corolla and five anthers standing up in the centre of the flower like a tube, through which projects the slender style. The podlike fruit consists of an envelope at first fleshy and afterwards leathery, within which are the spongy pulp and several seeds. The plants are herbaceous or shrubby; the leaves are entire, and alternate, or in pairs near one another; the flowers are solitary and do not arise in the leaf-axils. There are about 3o species, natives of Central and South America. They are now grown in various parts of the world, both for the fruit and for ornament. The principal source of cayenne pepper is C. annuum, the spur or goat pepper, a dwarf shrub, a native of South America, but commonly cultivated in the East Indies. It produces a small, narrow, bright red pod, having very pungent properties. Chillies, the dried fruit of capsicums, are used to make chilly-vinegar, as well as for pickles. Cayenne pepper is manufac tured from the ripe fruits, which are dried, ground, mixed with wheat flour, and made into cakes with yeast ; the cakes are baked till hard like biscuit; and then ground and sifted. The pepper is sometimes prepared by simply drying the pods and pounding them fine in a mortar. Chillies have been in use from time immemorial; they are eaten in great quantity by the people of Guiana and other warm countries, and in Europe are consumed both as a spice and as medicine.