I know Fred got seed and I have since sent seed to a number of members of this website. There's some great info in this thread!
One of the things I noticed, living in Mexico for 14 years, was that most Mexicans, especially the rural and ESPECIALLY the indigenous, see "variety" very differently than do those of European extraction. For instance, when going through the market I was always on the look out for unique kinds of food crops. I especially frequented the part of the market where the indigenous folk would set up and sell from their own ranchos. One time, I looked at a tomato someone was offering and asked, "¿Qué clase de jitomate es?" (What kind of tomato is this?) The lady looked at me quizzically and responded "Es jitomate de bola." (It's a round tomato.). So I tried again: "¿Qué variedad es? (What variety is it?). She looked at me as if she was thinking "This guy's Spanish isn't working very well" and she said...very...slowly..."Es jitomate rojo y de forma de bola." (It's a red, round tomato.) Rural Mexicans don't divide varieties up the way we do. So I would expect that there would be a spectrum of chiles with similar, yet different traits; just like there is with the native lowland squash,
calabaza de castilla.
I have friends all over the Huesteca region. I know they have
Chile Rayado in the States of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz, all in areas which are not that far from La Misión. I visited in Cerro Prieto, which was right next to La Mision, perhaps just a neighborhood belonging to it. I also visited in Pisaflores and Cuesta Colorada; all close by.
Here are two pictures I took in Cuesta Colorada.
This is still fairly high up there in altitude. I didn't see any coffee growing here (too cold in the winter).
The scenery was wonderful! The people were even better.
This is a photo from around 2000, of Brother Juan, the patriarch of a family group I often visited. He was sitting in his kitchen. When he was a young man he dismantled an older house and carried those timbers to its present location. They were over 100 years old when I took the picture.