Re: [CH] ID Help?
Brent Thompson (brent@hplbct.hpl.hp.com)
Tue, 11 May 1999 14:47:48 -0700
> Well, I've got a stumper for any botanical experts out there. At a recent
> garden show I bought a fine plant labeled only as: Cap. Bac. 439370 that the
> grower had gotten from the National Germplasm Center. Their records only
> list it as a Capsicum baccatum (no var. listed) collected in Bulgaria (!).
> So far the plant has 1/2 to 3/4 inch upward-facing round fruits with no
> lobing. They're still immature but are currently pale yellow/green. I
> haven't picked any yet, so I can't say about heat or flavor. Anybody got any
> good guesses as to what this is?
You didn't mention the most important diagnostic elements, corolla color
and presence/absence/color of corolla spots, hence lacking this we have to
presume the seeds were correctly labelled, in which case this is almost
certainly a Capsicum baccatum selection which has no common (vernacular)
name. I.e., exactly as labelled. "Bulgaria" of course means the donor was
growing them in Bulgaria, since all Capsicum selections originated in the
New World, at some time in their past.
I don't know what "1/2 to 3/4 inch upward-facing round fruits" means, but
if this means "1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter spherical fruits", or if the fruits
eventually get larger than, say, 1 inch in any dimension, then it is almost
certainly C. baccatum var. pendulum (regardless whether the fruits become
"pendulum" or continue being erect). If fruits remain erect, red (when
mature), and very small (no more than about 3/4 inch long and even that
long only if width is only approximately 1/4 inch), then it would possibly
be the wild relative of C. baccatum var. pendulum, namely C. baccatum var.
baccatum.
--- Brent