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sndk

Identify This Pepper please

sndk
17 years ago

It was found in a specialty overpriced snobstore. It is extremely thick walled and sweet on the bottom, but if you taste the placental wall it is *searing hot*

It is also HUGE and has extremly few seeds/pod. Does anyone have any idea what it is?

Comments (14)

  • John__ShowMe__USA
    17 years ago

    I would like to see a close-up of the seeds. Or describe their general shape. (are they flat or somewhat round?)

  • John__ShowMe__USA
    17 years ago

    Any dark colored seeds?

  • sndk
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    well camera wont take pics of something so small apparently.
    i'll give the pic i have and try to describe them.

    they are white and somewhat thin, with a blacker color embryo

  • John__ShowMe__USA
    17 years ago

    OK

    Was thinking was possibly a C. pubescens. Some varieties need more time than others for the seeds to turn dark brown/black and mature pod color doesn't always mean fully ripe.

    Thick walls, sweet outer flesh, and very hot placenta reminded me of some rocoto/manzano etc. Guess not...

    jt

  • organic_nut
    17 years ago

    after the pod turns color it takes another month for the seeds to fully ripen.

    these look exactly like c. pubescens has a beautiful purple flower with a tiny white border, and to make recognition even easier the seeds are black.

    I suggest you allow the other pepper to sit and ripen the seeds more. although the seeds you now have might germinate but might not last as long in storage. anyway, if the seeds turn black then you have it.

    I grew some years ago and they were very slow. this is one that I would consider growing through the winter and putting it outdoors next year for a good crop.

    Rocotillo is a different shape. your shape is rocoto other names are caballo, canario, manzana, peron, manzana and suprise Jalapeno in costa rico.

    the scovilles are a little lower than habanero but there are other chemicals present that make it seem hotter so be careful.

    http://www.rocoto.com/rocopica.html

    http://www.tough-love.com/Rocotored.jpg

    http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/garden8.asp

  • sndk
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    i'm almost 100% sure it is not a rocoto/manzano

    i have seeds from that and they are larger, even when not fully ripe, they are also much darker.

    the apple shape is nonexistant as well, these have a typical habanero shape, and i'd figure them for your normal off the shelf red habs, with one exception, the size on these things is incredible.

  • John__ShowMe__USA
    17 years ago

    sndk,

    Not to belabor the point, but not all C. pubescens seeds are large and the fruit are not all apple-shaped.

    Good luck with your I-D quest!

    jt

  • organic_nut
    17 years ago

    you may be correct that they are a red hab. there is a dent in the outside part. that would be more like a hab. the rocoto are more smooth all around without the crease.

    the ones I had, the seeds were huge and filled the hollow part.

    growing out the plant and seeing the flowers would help a lot. also growing out the plant would give more peppers and that would show their shape more.

    I dont see the size of these peppers as large at all. the picture they look fairly small to me. I guess the picture the seeds are tiny. so maybe the red hab type is the best guess for now.

    growing them out will really help identify them much better. the flowers of the various types are different. and the manner in which they flower. single or multiple help to id this pepper.

    but why the black color on the seeds. unless it is caused by rot. do the seeds look moldy and rotting.

    were you able to ask at the store what the pepper might be.

  • sndk
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    pepper was rung up as "misc hot peppers"

    also, the seeds are fresh, the pods extremely sweet, not developing the taste they get when they are old and starting to turn.

    what's wierd is the bottom 1/10th has absolutely no heat, and in fact is juicy and tasty as a red bell pepper.

    the majority of my experience comes with orange habs and jalapenos, and both of them have at least some heat in the bottom.

    as to the size, perhaps the picture doesn't do it justice, but these each weigh at least 3 times as much as a generic orange hab. they are much fatter as well as much larger.

    perhaps they are a hybrid though, that is always possible.

  • organic_nut
    17 years ago

    well I spent some time with Jean Andrew's book THE PEPPER LADY'S POCKET PEPPER PRIMER. the idea of this book is to help people identify peppers in the store. well to do a rough identity. and to know what might be substituted in a recipe.

    sndk you are in zone 10. can you say what state. certainly more peppers become available as you go south.

    After going through the jean andrews book I think it might be the last picture and item listed in the book. She gives it the name WEST INDIAN HOT. on page 158 in the book. she says she found this pepper in Antigua British West Indies. and they grow easy in texas.

    yes looking closer at the picture the flesh is firmer than a Habanero which has a thinner flesh.

    I think to get much farther on identifying this one, you will need to grow it out and maybe get some books from the library or buy them.

    this might be a cultivated cultivar and not a wild species.

  • john47_johnf
    17 years ago

    Because of pod shape variations within a variety, and even on the same plant, it is difficult to identify a pepper simply by pod shape.

    john

  • sndk
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    seeds are in a pot, i'll grow em out :)

  • opqdan
    17 years ago

    Let us know what the flowers look like eventually. That will certainly help narrow it down to at least one of the five main species.

    The whole pod looks a lot like a generic red habanero to me, but those black spots in the seeds are throwing me. I've never seen that on a C. chinense, but that does not mean it does not happen. Hopefully it is not some sort of rot like organic_nut suggested or you won't get any germination.

  • John__ShowMe__USA
    17 years ago

    I suggest you go buy some more and send me some. :)

    Seriously, I would buy some more. This mystery is solvable with just a little more info. Next time a shot of the calyx and report the smell of the pod. Let one or two pods age for a few weeks to a wrinkled condition.

    If your camera won't do macro try propping a magnifying glass between pod and camera and back off to where will focus.

    Good luck on seeds germinating. (color me doubtful) I've seen the dark spots in middle of C. chinense all too often.

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