The pepper species capsicum originates mainly from Bolivia where many varieties under cultivation have changed little from the wild progenitor. They tend to have elongated fruit, which are often fluted, wrinkled or an irregular shape. The flowers are distinct – cream-coloured with a gold/green colour on the petals. This species has a distinct fruity bouquet, which can either be attractive or repulsive, depending on what the individual is used to, or the purpose for which it’s used. Some varieties have a much stronger bouquet than others.
They tend to have thin-walled fruit which can vary from almost zero-burn to fiery hot. Most varieties tend to be in the middle range.
This capsicum hasn’t been very well exploited in most parts of the world. I’ve found two varieties which are commercially grown in this country. One is an elongated, orange-red cultivar sold as a hot-bottled preserve. After examining the plants, I discovered that they’re self-pollinating. This is the first time that I’ve come across this with any capsicum species. The anthers shed their pollen and fertilise the flower before it opens. The other variety is the well-known Piquanté pepper, widely marketed under the Peppadew name.
This highly productive variety has been grown in Zambia, Malawi and Kenya for years where it’s often referred to as pepperbells. South African company Peppadew International did the selections and commercialised this variety on a global scale. C. baccatum is essentially tropical in character and is inclined to be unproductive through winter in warm areas. Growth is little affected, but fruiting is compromised. Both Peppadew International and I have been trying to address this problem by crossing C. annuum, to which most of our bell peppers and chillies belong, with C. baccatum. The latter is extremely difficult to cross with other species and the Chile Pepper Institute informed me it couldn’t be done. But we’ve both achieved crosses and it’ll be only a matter of time before we’ll be able to keep subtropical areas in production during the winter periods.
This species is inclined to mature late and have large plants. Some varieties have fairly good powdery mildew and anthracnose resistance, which can eventually be transferred into other chillies and peppers through crosses used to bridge the species gap. – Bill KerrContact Bill Kerr on (016) 366 0616 or e-mail [email protected]. |fw
