I've never heard of it so checked quite a few back issues of the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbooks since I couldn't find it via Google either. And no mention at all.

Could you share where you heard about it or anything else you might know?

The genus name is Capsicum for all peppers as I'm sure you already know, but the species name cannot be given until the traits of the pepper are known.

Carolyn

Yes, a friend in the Southern Garden History Society has it but knows nothing more about it. Everyone asks about it who visits the garden so she asked us. She said it was in the Burpee catalog some years back (not a really long time ago) and she contacted Burpee but they don't have info on seeds they no longer grow. Thanks for any help you can give.

She said it was in the Burpee catalog some years back (not a really long time ago) and she contacted Burpee but they don't have info on seeds they no longer grow. Thanks for any help you can give.

I never saw it in the small heirloom catalog that Burpee put out for a few years and if it was in the regular catalog not that long ago then I doubt it's an heirloom variety and I also doubt that Milky Way is the real name since Burpee hasn't had any hybridizers in many years and renames peppers they get, primarily from Petoseed, as unnamed ones.

Which is why Burpee gave her a mysterious answer since they don't produce any seed at all.

I also checked the NCSU list of pepper varieties and it isn't there either.

Why does your friend think this pepper is an heirloom one?

It seems to me there would be some record of it somewhere if it were, but not finding any references whatsoever and now knowing it was from Burpee, I think I see the picture more clearly than before. Sigh.

Carolyn

Carolyn--That is very helpful and interesting information. My friend is not sure it is an heirloom variety and was seeking further info. But it sounds as if some marketer at Burpee pulled a name out of his/her head, if I follow you correctly. Also, could you tell me what the NCSU is? Thanks again.

I thought I'd spend a few minutes researching this. Carolyn must mean North Carolina State University at http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wehner/vegcult/vgclintro.html. You'll notice that there are so many peppers that the list is split into two.

Obviously Milky Way is not listed between Milfruto and Mission Belle.

There are other possibilities. Many of the Petoseed varieties have Spanish names. Babel Fish translates "milky way" as "manera lechosa," which isn't listed either. However I found an astronomy site that gives the name in Spanish as "via lactea," which also isn't listed.

Perhaps someone mis-remembered the name. It could have been something else astronomical like Big Dipper or Little Dipper which were Burpee varieties listed as 1997.

Or you could grow it out, get its characteristics, and go through the entire list.