It is an annual, a native of
tropical countries, where it thrives luxuriantly even in the dryest
soils, but it is also cultivated in other parts of the world. It grows
to the height of two or three feet, and bears a fruit in the shape of
a conical pod or seed-vessel, which is green when immature, but bright
scarlet or orange when ripe. This pod, with its seeds, has a very
pungent taste, and is used when green for pickling, and when ripe
and dried is ground to powder to make cayenne pepper, or is used
for medicine. This powder has a strongly stimulating effect, and is
believed to aid digestion. It is also employed externally to excite
the action of the skin.
THE BIG TREES OF CALIFORNIA.--There are several groves of Big Trees in
California, the most famous of which are the Calaveras grove and the
Mariposa grove. The Calaveras grove occupies what may be described
as a band or belt 3,200 feet long and 700 in width. It is between two
slopes, in a depression in the mountains, and has a stream winding
through it, which runs dry in the summer time. In this grove the Big
Trees number ninety-three, besides a great many smaller ones, which
would be considered very large if it were not for the presence of
these monarchs of the forest. Several of the Big Trees have fallen
since the grove was discovered, one has been cut down, and one had
the bark stripped from it to the height 116 feet from the ground. The
highest now standing is the "Keystone State," 325 feet high and 45
feet in circumference; and the largest and finest is the "Empire
State.
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