Who's your daddy? Peppers, DNA, and Landraces

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

About a year ago, I started trying to create a flow chart of which peppers come from which.  Things like Jay's Ghost x Scorpions are damn easy due to their name.  Things like Carolina Reaper, Fatalii Gourmet and others not so easy because their lineage is a trade secret.  Then there are landraces whose lineage seems to end where ever it was that they were first identified.

Think on peppers like the common red ghost pepper.  From its dna, we know it is a cross between C. chinense and C. frutescens.  We generally think of it as coming from India.  Thing is, I am fairly sure C. chinense and C. frutescens are both from the Americas and surrounding islands.  Did the Brits bring the different peppers to India for cultivation and come up with the cross?  Was the cross already existing in the Americas and the Brits brought the cross to India for cultivation?

What I wonder is if these questions / the jigsaw puzzle that is pepper lineage interests anyone else?  While I do very much love the super hots, I have to admit that the mystery is one of the reasons I grow some of them.  I can look up pictures and speculate on which came from which by appearance, but being able to taste them, see how they grow, get a feel for the rate that they develope, it gives more insight.

When I try to figure these things out, I feel like a pepper archaeologist.  I imagine if I ever went to the Caribbean, I would need a hat and a whip.  How about you?  Does this area give you thrill?  Or am I a lone nut case?
 
You're a nut case.  But without nutcases, some questions would never get answered.  Because nutcases see the world in a different way. :D
 
AJ Drew said:
Think on peppers like the common red ghost pepper.  From its dna, we know it is a cross between C. chinense and C. frutescens.  We generally think of it as coming from India.  Thing is, I am fairly sure C. chinense and C. frutescens are both from the Americas and surrounding islands.  Did the Brits bring the different peppers to India for cultivation and come up with the cross?  Was the cross already existing in the Americas and the Brits brought the cross to India for cultivation?
Click to expand...
 
I have seen speculation that the C. Assamicum species (a hypothetical one given to the indian supers) isn't so much a cross between C. Chinense and C. Frutescens but a divergent ancestor thereof, which merely retains traits of the original proto-Chinense, mixed in with the superhot mutation and a few other adaptations to suit the local climate.
Apparently there is actual evidence to suggest that C. Frutescens evolved out of C. Chinense (I cannot confirm, I'm no geneticist) but the rest of the theory is not well regarded by the scientific community and the existence of C. Assamicum at all is highly discreditted.
 
I find that last part weird, since there is at least one well defined difference between your average C. Chinense and almost every superhot. But, again, defining species is not within my area of expertise.
I'm merely sharing a theory that I found interesting in the hopes that you find it such as well and maybe even get more out of it.
 
Probably not since the time it takes for a species to diverge is too long for it to be caused by humans. This also can't be a subspecies since it's a hybrid
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top