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Capsicum regale Barboza & Bohs, sp. nov., a new species from the tropical wet forests of the eastern Andean slopes (Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) is described and illustrated. This new species belongs to the Andean clade (all species 2n = 26) of Capsicum and is similar to C. longifolium Barboza & S.Leiva in its glabrescence, calyx morphology, and corolla and seed color but differs in its membranous and elliptic leaves, fleshy calyces, deeper stellate corollas, longer filaments, longer and purple fruiting pedicels, purple berries, and larger seeds. Its chromosome number was counted (2n = 26), a preliminary assessment of conservation status is given and discussed, and an updated identification key to the species of the Andean clade is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fossil discoveries can transform our understanding of plant diversification over time and space. Recently described fossils in many plant families have pushed their known records farther back in time, pointing to alternative scenarios for their origin and spread.Here, we describe two new Eocene fossil berries of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) from the Esmeraldas Formation in Colombia and the Green River Formation in Colorado (USA). The placement of the fossils was assessed using clustering and parsimony analyses based on 10 discrete and five continuous characters, which were also scored in 291 extant taxa.The Colombian fossil grouped with members of the tomatillo subtribe, and the Coloradan fossil aligned with the chili pepper tribe. Along with two previously reported early Eocene fossils from the tomatillo genus, these findings indicate that Solanaceae were distributed at least from southern South America to northwestern North America by the early Eocene.Together with two other recently discovered Eocene berries, these fossils demonstrate that the diverse berry clade and, in turn, the entire nightshade family, is much older and was much more widespread in the past than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]