The cayenne pepper also known as the Guinea spice cow-horn pepper aleva bird pepper or especially in its powdered form red pepper is a cultivar of Capsicum annuum related to bell peppers jalapeos paprika and others. The Capsicum genus is in the nightshade family (Solanaceae). It is a hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes. It is named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana. The fruits are generally dried and ground or pulped and baked into cakes which are then ground and sifted to make the powdered spice of the same name. Cayenne is used in cooking spicy dishes as a powder or in its whole form (such as in Korean Sichuan and other Asian cuisine) or in a thin vinegar-based sauce. It is generally rated at 30000 to 50000 Scoville units. It is also used as an herbal supplement and was mentioned by Nicholas Culpeper in his Complete Herbal 1653 as guinea pepper a misnomer for guiana pepper.