</s> ▁C aps icum ▁( ), ▁the ▁pe pper , ▁is ▁a ▁genus ▁of ▁flow ering ▁plants ▁in ▁the ▁night sh ade ▁family ▁Sol an aceae . ▁Its ▁species ▁are ▁native ▁to ▁America , ▁where ▁they ▁have ▁been ▁cultiv ated ▁for ▁thousands ▁of ▁years . ▁Pe ppers ▁are ▁cultiv ated ▁world wide ▁and ▁used ▁in ▁many ▁cu is ines . ▁ ▁Et ym ology ▁and ▁names ▁ ▁The ▁generic ▁name ▁may ▁come ▁from ▁Latin ▁, ▁meaning ▁' box ', ▁pres umably ▁all ud ing ▁to ▁the ▁pod s ; ▁or ▁from ▁the ▁Greek ▁word ▁ ▁, ▁' to ▁g ulp '. ▁The ▁name ▁" pe pper " ▁comes ▁from ▁the ▁similarity ▁of ▁pi qu ance ▁( sp ic iness ▁or ▁" he at ") ▁of ▁the ▁flav or ▁to ▁that ▁of ▁black ▁pe pper , ▁Pi per ▁n igr um , ▁although ▁there ▁is ▁no ▁botan ical ▁relationship ▁with ▁it ▁or ▁with ▁S ich uan ▁pe pper . ▁The ▁original ▁term , ▁ch illi ▁( now ▁ch ile ▁in ▁Mexico ) ▁came ▁from ▁the ▁N ahu at l ▁word ▁ch ī l li , ▁den oting ▁a ▁larger ▁C aps icum ▁variety ▁cultiv ated ▁at ▁least ▁since ▁ 3 0 0 0 ▁BC , ▁as ▁ev iden ced ▁by ▁remains ▁found ▁in ▁pot tery ▁from ▁P ue bla ▁and ▁O ax aca . ▁D ifferent ▁vari eties ▁were ▁cultiv ated ▁in ▁South ▁America , ▁where ▁they ▁are ▁known ▁as ▁aj í es ▁( sing ular ▁aj í ), ▁from ▁the ▁Que ch ua