The Mother of All Chiles

October 06, 2018 00:04:51
The Mother of All Chiles
Growing Native with Petey Mesquitey
The Mother of All Chiles

Oct 06 2018 | 00:04:51

/

Show Notes

Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum is thought to be the mother all chiles, because so many cultivars of peppers have come from this wild rascal. Around you and me it can be found in southern Arizona and down into Sonora. My Arizona Flora lists them “on a west slope of the Baboquivari Mountains”, but the best known population around us is in the Tumacacori Mountains in a Wild Chile Botanical area… a 2,500 acre chile preserve. Yay!

The botanical name Capsicum comes from a Greek word meaning “to bite”, annuum means annual, which it isn’t, and the variety glabriusculum means it is really hairless. We’re talking smooth as a baby’s bottom! It’s a reference to the lack of pubescence. I miss the old variety name of aviculare which means “of the birds”.  They are attracted to the red fruit and not bothered by the intense heat, they help spread seed while enjoying the fruit. Thank you, birds.

I mentioned briefly that folks say chiltepin seed are hard to germinate (btw, when talking to growers you’ll hear them say, germ…lazy jargon for germinate). Patience and warm soil have always worked for me to germ chiltepin. No tricks.

 

There are many books on chiles, but I remember a chapter on this wild chile in Gary Nabhan’s book of many years ago called Gathering the Desert. You might want to look it up. Goodness, it came out in 1985! Oh, and it comes with killer illustrations by Paul Mirocha.

The photos are mine of chiltepins I grow. You can see the fruit is not round, not oblong, but ellipsoidal. Hotcha!

 

Other Episodes

Episode

June 26, 2018 00:05:07
Episode Cover

Arizona Yellow Bells

  I think I talked more about Toumey oak (Quercus toumeyi) than yellow bells. It is an awfully sweet little native oak. I’m pretty sure...

Listen

Episode 0

December 06, 2023 00:04:23
Episode Cover

Arroyo Surprise

What a fun discovery in the desert east of Douglas, Arizona. There is just something about these large spinescent shrubs in the buckthorn family,...

Listen

Episode

October 13, 2015
Episode Cover

Native Grasses in the Hills

Petey wanders into the nearby hills and comes across a couple different species of native bunch grasses and tells us all about them.

Listen