Today I will touch in depth the global structure of the sweet bell pepper plant. It is an herbaceous plant, with shrubby habit that reaches between 80 and 100 cm high. It is a perennial crop that is grown commercially as if it were an annual. According to Sarita (1994), this plant is morphologically structured as follows.
▶ The root system, has a short but highly branched taproot. Secondary roots can extend up to 1.20 m in diameter and most roots are located between 5 and 40 cm deep.
As for the stem and leaves, although it is considered a herbaceous plant, it has the particularity that its lower part is woody. It can take cylindrical or angular prismatic shape, glabrous, erect and with a height between 0.30 - 0.12m. This plant has a pseudodichotomous branching, always with one thicker than the other. The leaves are simple, alternate, with oval - lanceolate blade with smooth edges, dark green color and compressed petioles.
The flowers are located at the points where the stem branches, being found in number of 1-5 per branching, are hermaphrodite, with 6 sepals forming a persistent calyx, 6 petals and 6 stamens. The stigma in most cases is at the level of the anthers, which facilitates self-pollination.
The fruit consists of a berry with 2-4 locules, which form lower cavities with visible divisions in the case of elongated peppers, but not in the rounded ones. The anatomical constitution of the fruit is basically represented by the pericarp and the seed.
The seeds are generally depressed, kidney-shaped, smooth and yellowish or yellowish-white in color. Their absolute weight (weight of 1000 seeds) depends on the variety and varies from 3.8 to 8 grams. The germination percentage is generally high (95-98%) and can be maintained for 4-5 years as long as they are placed under good storage conditions.
