Capsicum cardenasii
| Capsicum cardenasii | ||||||||||||
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Branch of an ulupica plant with green berries |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Capsicum cardenasii | ||||||||||||
| Hoarse & PGSm. |
Capsicum cardenasii is a plant from the genus of the pepper ( Capsicum ) in the family of the nightshade family . It occurs wild in the Andes region , especially in Peru and Bolivia . The local name is ulupica .
description
Capsicum cardenasii is a short-lived subshrub with woody but fragile branches. The plant grows up to 100 cm high and can have a side space requirement of up to 60 cm. The leaves are narrow, pointed ovoid and hairless or only slightly hairy. They are about 5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide and, when rubbed, give off an intense smell of tomato leaves .
One or two flowers develop in the branches of the stem axis . The approximately 1 cm long flower stalks grow upright and have bell-shaped, downward-hanging flowers. The calyx is 1 to 1.5 mm long. The corolla is about 7.5 mm long and 6 mm wide, it is especially purple at the tips of the petals .
After fertilization , spherical, red berries up to 1 cm in size develop with thin flesh. There are only a few seeds in the fruits (around 12). The sharpness is about 30,000 SHU .
Occurrence and discovery
Capsicum cardenasii was first found in the Bolivian highlands near the city of La Paz . A plant that was found at an altitude of 2,450 meters already appears in a collection by Otto Buchtien from 1911. Plant was first described in 1958 by Heiser and PG Smith in the journal "Brittonia". Heiser also found a plant in the vicinity of La Paz.
Differentiation from other Capsicum species
Capsicum cardenasii is the only species of the genus Capsicum that is self-incompatible , so the flowers require pollen from another plant in order to be fertilized. It is assumed that this property was only developed by this species, that is, the original representatives of the genus Capsicum , like most of today's species, were self-compatible. This self-incompatibility is passed on unilaterally within the C. pubescens complex, consisting of C. pubescens , C. cardenasii and C. eximium . Since C. cardenasii is resistant to the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) , efforts are being made to transfer this property to other Capsicum species by breeding , but this is due to the self-incompatibility and strong genetic demarcation from cultivated species such as C. annuum as proves difficult.
use
The berries are usually harvested before they are ripe (i.e. still green) and used fresh or dried as a spice . They taste very sharp with an interesting aroma similar to that of the leaves. In Peru and Bolivia you can often find bowls with these fruits ( ulupica ), similar to pepper shakers . They are used for individual seasoning. The ulupicas are rarely used for cooking , as other chilli varieties such as the ajíes amarillos from the botanical species Capsicum baccatum are preferred.
The ulupica is still a wild plant today. It is traded on a small scale in local markets, but the commodity comes from wild stocks or family gardens. Currently, Capsicum cardenasii is not cultivated on a large scale anywhere . That is why there are no different cultivars like most other chillies . However, the Capsicum pubescens chilli cultivated in the same area is closely related to the ulupica .
literature
- Charles B. Heiser, Jr., Paul G. Smith: New Species of Capsicum from South America . Brittonia, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Oct. 15, 1958), pp. 194-201.
- W. Hardy Eshbaugh: The taxonomy of the genus Capsicum (Solanaceae) , in: Phytologia 47: 154. 1980.
- W. Hardy Eshbaugh: Peppers: History and Exploitation of a Serendipitous New Crop Discovery , in: J. Janick and JE Simon (editors) New Crops , pp. 132-139, Wiley, New York, 1993. Online version
- Barbara Pickersgill: Genetic Resources and Breeding of Capsicum spp , in: Euphytica 96: 129-133, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands. 1997.
