[CH] Pretty Peppers
Bob Batson (rcb@kc.rr.com)
Sat, 12 May 2001 14:52:13 -0500
ARS scientists are fired up about spicy, colorful new peppers.
Geneticist John R. Stommel, with the ARS Vegetable Laboratory, and
collaborator Robert J. Griesbach, of the U.S. National Arboretum's
Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit, both located in Beltsville,
Maryland, have developed new ornamental and culinary pepper breeding
lines that are pungent or mild and pleasing to the eye. Since the
breeding program started in 1991, they have developed about 150 new
ornamental breeding lines.
"These new lines-ranging from small Tabasco-type peppers and
miniature bells to large, orange, banana-shaped peppers-were
developed from a diverse collection of Capsicum landraces from India
and select heirloom peppers," says Stommel. "They were selected for
fruit and leaf characteristics and plant habit. We wanted showy,
attractive plants for ornamental use, culinary use, or both."
New breeding lines include bite-sized miniature bell peppers that are
hot or mild and are available in an array of colors. Some new lines
have brilliant purple foliage and produce hot-to-mild, yellow-to-red
peppers on upright or trailing plants from mid- to late summer. The
peppers are relatively easy to grow as container or landscape plants.
The scientists are cooperating with the Pan American Seed Company to
develop and market these peppers for commercial use.-By Tara
Weaver-Missick, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.
This research is part of Plant, Microbial, and Insect Genetic
Resources, Genomics and Genetic Improvement, an ARS National Program
(#301) described on the World Wide Web at
http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov.
John R. Stommel is with the USDA-ARS Vegetable Laboratory, 10300
Baltimore Ave., Building 010A, BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705; phone
(301) 504-5583, fax (301) 504-5555.
"Pretty Peppers" was published in the May 2001 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine.
--
Bob Batson L 39 12 14 N 94 33 16 W
rcb@kc.rr.com Kansas City
TCS - Mystic Fire Priest USDA Zone 5
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Under the most controlled conditions, the experimental apparatus
will do exactly as it pleases.