Four new species of Capsicum (Capsiceae, Solanaceae) from Andean tropical forests in South America are described. Capsicum benoistii Hunz. ex Barboza sp. nov. (incertae sedis) is endemic to a restricted area in south-central Ecuador and is most similar to the more widespread C. geminifolium (Dammer) Hunz. (Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru). Capsicum piuranum Barboza & S. Leiva sp. nov. (Andean clade) is found in northern Peru (Department Piura) and is morphologically most similar to C. caballeroi M. Nee of the Bolivian yungas (Departments Santa Cruz and Cochabamba) but closely related to C. geminifolium and C. lycianthoides Bitter. Capsicum longifolium Barboza & S. Leiva sp. nov. (Andean clade) occurs from northern Peru (Departments Amazonas, Cajamarca, and Piura) to southern Ecuador (Province Zamora-Chinchipe), and is morphologically most similar to C. dimorphum (Miers) Kuntze (Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru). Capsicum neei Barboza & X. Reyes sp. nov. (Bolivian clade) is endemic to southeastern Bolivia (Departments Chuquisaca and Santa Cruz) in the Boliviano-Tucumano Forest, is morphologically most similar to another Bolivian endemic species C. minutiflorum Rusby (Hunz.), and is closely related to C. caballeroi. Complete descriptions, illustrations, distributions and conservation assessments of all new species are given. Chromosome numbers for C. piuranum and C. longifolium are also provided. Three of the new species were included in a new phylogenetic analysis for Capsicum; their positions were strongly resolved within clades previously recognized in the genus.

The Southern Andes, especially the inter-Andean valleys of south Bolivia, is thought to be a probable point of domestication within the primary centre of diversity for Andean common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The national Phaseolus germplasm collection of Bolivia is maintained by the Pairumani Foundation and consists of 449 accessions where most of the accessions are of common bean but some are of related cultivated and wild species. The goal of this study was to determine the genetic diversity of this collection by sampling 174 accessions of P. vulgaris and an outgroup of eight Phaseolus augusti, two Phaseolus lunatus and one Phaseolus coccineus genotype. The genetic diversity and population structure were estimated using 29 microsatellite markers. High levels of polymorphism were found, with a total of 311 alleles identified and an average of 10.7 alleles per marker. Correspondence analysis and an unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean-based dendrogram distinguished P. vulgaris from the other species of Phaseolus. Common bean accessions were separated into two groups: the first one including Andean controls and most accessions from high altitudes with morphological characteristics and growth habits typical of this gene pool; the second one including Mesoamerican controls and accessions from low altitudes. Inside the Andean gene pool, the wild accessions were diverse and separated from the weedy and cultivated accessions. Low geographical distances between collection sites (up to 100 km) were shown to be related to low genetic distances. These results are important for the conservation of common beans in the Southern Andes.

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The Andes of South America is a center of origin for common beans {Phaseotus vulgaris L.) and iima beans (P. iunatus L.) that has been iess well studied than other regions due to its high diversity and multitude of subenvironments. The objective of this study was to evaluate 174 accessions from five Phaseolus species native to Bolivia to determine their relationships and total genetic diversity using a set of 36 fluorescent microsateliite markers that are highiy polymorphic and differentiate both between and within species. The resuits showed that the common beans were divided into a range of Andean groups and one disperse group of iVlesoamerican accessions. The other species were weli differentiated, including two scarlet runner beans (P. coccineus L.), 22 lima beans, and wild relatives P. augusti Harms and P. boiivianus Piper. Within the Andean groups, accessions with bicolor seeds were frequent and were typical of race Peru, subgroup I. These "vaquita" type beans were different from other subrace Peru genotypes without bicolor seeds and were also different from type I growth habit beans from race Nueva Granada. This latter race was unexpected for the region as it is from the northern Andes but occurred with some frequency in Bolivia. The diversity of Piiaseolus beans found in Bolivia is high with implications on germplasm conservation and the source of diversity in the Andean gene pool and in surrounding countries.