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hilokawika

Mexican "Firecracker" pepper

hilokawika
10 years ago

Aloha,

Yesterday I purchased an attractive pepper from Home Depot grown by a local nursery. It is labeled Mexican "Firecracker" pepper. The peppers begin green and appear to become dark purple or black when ripe. The stem and the undersides of the leaves are covered with fine, white hairs. The peppers are upright and about 1 1/2" long when fully dark. The flowers are completely white and the six anthers are slightly separated and dark green.

I can't seem to find any online reference to Mexican "Firecracker" peppers in the plethora of websites dealing with chili peppers. If anyone in this group could help me in identifying this variety, I'd appreciate it.

Comments (8)

  • don555
    10 years ago

    JMO, but that doesn't look like a pepper plant. I'd be concerned that it's a different plant from the same family peppers belong to, some of which are very poisonous. I've never heard of a pepper plant with fine white hairs on the underside of the leaf, I'd be really cautious about this one.

  • DMForcier
    10 years ago

    Yah, at first I thought it was sage until I saw the pods.

    Ask at Home Depot and contact the nursery to find out. Then please tell us. It is quite an unusual pepper!

    Dennis

  • ronnyb123
    10 years ago

    It is a "Goat weed" pepper plant also called Black Cobra. They have those white fuzzy hair on them and the fruit is black then turns red. I have those growing now. Overwinters well.

    They pulled a bait and switch on you dude. That is not any type of Firecracker chili.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Goat weed.

  • hilokawika
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks very much RonnyB123! Great link and description. I must say that I prefer "Black Cobra" to Goat Weed though...LOL

  • ronnyb123
    10 years ago

    No problem Hilokawika. Happy to help.

    I like the "Black Cobra'' name too. Goat weed kind of makes it sound like some type of weed and not a chili plant.

    It is an interesting plant and it will give you many peppers. When dried, it makes a good tasting powder.

    Enjoy.

  • DMForcier
    10 years ago

    I grew "Black Cobra" last year. I thought the pods tasted soapy. I won't be growing it again. (To be fair, it might not have been a "true" goat weed (if there is such a thing), but in any case there are much more rewarding varieties.)

    Dennis

  • ronnyb123
    10 years ago

    DM... I totally agree. There are a ton of better tasting varieties.

    Black and early green versions of the pepper are bitter. To me, red is the best and is the hottest, but this ripe pepper actually does not have that much more flavor. The pods are very seedy. I mostly use these peppers for powder mixes. Of course to be fair, I use a bunch of other peppers too in my mixes, so this is not a pure taste example of this pepper.

    I can't remember it tasting like soap, nor can I remember what soap tastes like... LOL, and it has been a while since I tasted one. Maybe one of these days I will have to chew on one to check out the pure taste again.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Youtube taste test... GoatWeed pepper

    This post was edited by RonnyB123 on Mon, Mar 31, 14 at 18:39

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    10 years ago

    I grew a Thai chile that was a hybrid with a pepper similar to this, or so I assume. The leaves turned out pubescent, and the overall color of the plant was a bit more "blue." The pods were longer than my other Thai chiles, and even more packed with seeds. Flavor was off, too....more bitterness, less tangy. It was tough, though, and overwintered very well indoors.

    Josh

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