How many varieties???

simon04

simon04

I wondered if there is a figure on how many varieties of Capsicums there actually are??
 
Not a greatly worded question I know - as there are a number of varieties that are disputed whether they are a different strain or not... new crosses being made etc etc...
 
However, it would be nice when I'm discussing my hobby with people, if I had an approximate figure I can drop into the conversation, of how many types there are... :onfire:
 
 
 
millworkman said:
As in species, or varieties? Species would be Capsicum Chinense, Annuum... Varieties would be Orange Habanero, Bhut...

Which one?
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I'm talking actual varieties... not just cultivars.
 
Yea, I thought I knew hot. I thought I knew peppers untill I found THP. Some of you guys grow peppers I have never heard of. I usually tell people "have you ever heard of a scorpian or a ghost pepper?". When they say yea they have heard of the ghost I say that there is a list almost as long as my arm of peppers that people grow ad eat that are really hot and never make thier way into your local market.
 
millworkman said:
So what makes one a variety and not a cultivar?

 
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     "Variety" is the lowest level of taxonomic distinction - right below species. They are natural occurrences and will always grow true from seed. "Cultivar" is a term used to indicate a strain or hybrid that is not naturally occurring. These are usually commercial creations and usually require cloning or grafting to propagate a plant that is true to form.
     It's easiest for me to show the distinction using trees as an example (I know my trees). Think of honeylocust trees, Gleditsia triacanthos. There is a variety that does not produce thorns called Gleditsia triacanthos v. inermis. This is a natural variation, although uncommon. Over the years plant breeders have used this thornless variety as a platform to breed and select for other desirable traits such as dwarf habit (Gleditsia triacanthos v. inermis 'Impcole') or for upright, straight-trunked habit (Gleditsia triacanthos v. inermis 'Skyline'). Notice how the cultivar names are in caps, these are trademarks created by plant breeders to legally protect their property. 
     As far as peppers go… I'm not sure where the distinction lies among different cultivars (if you can even call them that). Maybe it's just because there isn't as much money in the pepper community compared to the landscape tree market or the dent corn market. But there don't seem to be many trademarked hybrids floating around. It's also difficult to determine what is actually a naturally occurring variety in a genus like Capsicum that has been cultivated by humans for so long. It would be very difficult to tell which traits just popped up naturally over time and were selected for by the plant's ecosystem versus traits that were selected for by early chileheads and maybe migrated with those people.
     Thank jeebus for DNA analysis!
 
"Variety" is the lowest level of taxonomic distinction - right below species. They are natural occurrences and will always grow true from seed.
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Does "landrace" have a place in the taxonomic food chain?
 
 
How many varieties?
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Thechileman.org/ cites 33 species and lists 3778 varieties.  I believe there are duplicates and omissions, but those are some ballpark numbers.
 
 
 
swellcat said:
 
Does "landrace" have a place in the taxonomic food chain?
 
 
 
 
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     Think of a landrace as kind of like an ancient cultivar. Over the course of many generations, certain traits were selected for out of a wild population. Only the plants that had these traits (productivity, fruit size, nutrition etc.) were gathered out of the wild and allowed to reproduce (cultivated). Over time, as the more desirable plants were picked out of a crop and used for seed, the genetics of the target plant slowly shifted until it no longer closely resembled its wild ancestors. Eventually these plants became strongly adapted for the needs of the ancient chileheads as well as the ecosystem in which they all lived. And now the names of those plants have become synonymous with the areas in which they were originally grown: Jalapeño, Trinidad scorpion etc...
 
It would be really nice if here in the US we could go to a regular market and get more than about 4 varieties.  Bell, Jalapeno, Serrano and Habanero if you're lucky.  Oh and those pickled jars of pepperoncinis. :rolleyes:
 
Lucky for the folks here in my county, I'll have quite a few varieties available at the local farmer's market this year :mouthonfire:
 
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