Named as in "hairy" like peppers. First commented upon in 1794 by Ruiz and Pavon and thought to have been first used domestically some 6,000 years ago. Morphologically, these are unlike any other domesticated pepper having brown/black seeds. Genetically, this species has no wild form, it is however very closely related to a group of wild species including Capsicum eximium (Bolivia and northern Argentina), Capsicum cardenasii (Bolivia) and Capsicum tovarii (Peru). This may be due to the fact that this species cannot cross-pollinate with other Capsicum species, thus reducing its genetic diversity over time. The most common cultivar is the Rocoto peppers.
Pronounced as 'pugh-BES-enz'.
|
Name |
Origin |
Description |
Seeds Available |
| Locato - PI 387838 |
Bolivia | Seeds just acquired and germinating. Heat Level : 8 |
Seeds not available |
| Peru/Bolivia |
Rocoto (aka Locoto in Bolivia). Manzano is Spanish for 'apple' (aka Tree Chilli) and is the only chilli to
have black seeds, the flowers are a stunning purple
and it has "hairy" leaves. A 'cool climate chilli', it has
historically proven a little difficult to raise in a hot and humid
environment, but find it a protected spot out of fierce sunlight and wind on
that corner of your verandah, provide it eventually with a climbing trellis,
and success will be yours. The thick fleshed apple-shaped pods can be
up 2 inches long. Its increasing legions of fans have
described it as having a slow creeping type of heat with an outstanding
fruity flavour - almost apricot-like - excellent for chutneys and hot sauces. A chilli much prized for use in salsas.
Because of its shape it's also great stuffed.
This is one of my favourite chillies. Heat Level : 8 |
10 Seeds for $5.00 | |
| Rocoto Manzano Red | Peru/Bolivia | See Rocoto Manzano Orange above except it
ripens to red. Heat Level : 8 |
10 Seeds for $5.00 |
| Rocoto Peron | Peru/Bolivia | Peron translates to "Pear" from Spanish.
These pods have the same attributes as the Manzano except they are pearish
shaped. The fruit starts outs dark green ripening to dark red. Heat Level : 8 |
10 Seeds for $5.00 |
| Rocoto Yellow | Peru/Bolivia | Seeds just acquired and germinating. Heat Level : 8 |
Seeds not available |