The practice of referring woody plants of this species to Capsicum frutescens Linnaeus has little merit since herbaceous plants often become woody with age, and other characters supposed to distinguish the two species occur in various populations in both herbaceous and woody plants.
noun | encyclopedia/cuisine
Pronounced:chil-ee, chee-lay
IPA: /ˈtʃɪl i, ˈtʃi lɛ/
Depiction of New Mexico chile, by Heaven Sent Gaming Capsicum annuum L. ‘New Mexico chile’ group Cultivar of the shrub that produces perennial peppers (capsicum), native to the Americas.The edible fruit of New Mexico chileis a many-seeded, savory and lightly-pungent, long berry; which usuallyis green and matures to red. The New Mexico chile cultivar grows best along the Rio Grande, the Rio Grande Bosque, and in inland with New Mexico’s unique “landrace” chile.
Cultural significance of the New Mexico chile within New MexicoThe New Mexico chile is not only important in New Mexico from a culinary aspect, as an essential part of New Mexican cuisine, but also as an economic value as a cash crop; and an even larger cultural value with family recipes, artistic depictions decorative arrangement of drying chile ristras, and deepsymbolism of being sacred among the Acoma -to- being a respected state icon. As such, it is a primary part of New Mexican cuisine, and a part of the much more capacious Mexican cuisine and Southwestern American cuisine. Since the fruit is savory and not sweet, it is referred to as a vegetable, and is the New Mexico state vegetable. The New Mexico state question, “Red or Green?,” references a common question at restaurants which refers to the choice of green chile or the matured red chile.Requesting the combination of red and green chile, is referred to as“Christmas”.
Origin ofNew Mexico chileThere are multiple varieties of the New Mexico chile pepper, and each of them has a history of its own. The oldest forms of which can trace their lineage back 400+ years, to the Pueblo modern culture and the Spanish modern culture. However the modern New Mexico chile owes its roots to, being mixture of many of those Pueblo and Spanishpeppers, being mixed by early horticulturalist Dr. Fabian Garcia. Most of theNew Mexico chile peppersmaturefrom green to red unless otherwise stated by the breeder. The most popular varieties are the6-4, No. 6,No. 9,Anaheim, and Big Jim. The old Pueblo and Spanish town peppers often offer up apiquancy much different than the popular varieties, however their are the “Heritage” varietiesof Heritage 6-4 and Heritage Big Jim which attempt to reclaim those variety’spiquancy.
Family solanaceae; genus capsicum; species c. annuum; sub-cultivars anaheim, 6-4, sandia, big jim, española, zia pueblo,isleta pueblo, and others.
Alternate spellings exist; chile, green chile, red chile, numex pepper, chile Nuevo Méxicano.
First Known Use: 16th century as chile de nuevo mexico
Capsicum annuum is a species of the plant genus Capsicum native to southern North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America.[2][5] This species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capsicums. The species encompasses a wide variety of shapes and sizes of peppers, including sweet bell peppers and some chili pepper varieties such as jalapeños, New Mexico chile, and cayenne peppers, all of which are nightshades. Cultivars descended from the wild American bird pepper are still found in warmer regions of the Americas.[6] In the past, some woody forms of this species have been called C. frutescens, but the features that were used to distinguish those forms appear in many populations of C. annuum and are not consistently recognizable features in C. frutescens species.[7]
Capsicum annuum is a herb or small shrub growing to a height between 0.3 to 1.2 metres (1–4 feet) and a width of 15 to 30 cm (6–12 inches). It has roughly oval glossy leaves with smooth margins reaching up to 7.5 cm (3 inches) in length. In some cultivars leaves turn dark purple or black.[8]
Flowers are star or bell-shaped with 4–5 petals which can be white, green, or purple in colour. Its fruit is a true berry coming in a variety of shapes, sizes, pungency, and sweetness. Depending on cultivar, fruit may be green, red, yellow, orange, or black, with many changing colour as they mature.[9]
While generally self-pollinating, insect visitation is known to increase the fruit size and speed of ripening, as well as to ensure symmetrical development. Pepper flowers have nectaries at the base of the corolla, which helps to attract pollinators. The anthers do not release pollen except via buzz pollination, such as provided by bumble bees.[10]
The genus name Capsicum derives from a Greek-based derivative of the Latin word ‘kapto’, meaning ‘to bite’, in reference to the heat or pungency of the species’ fruit, although it has also been speculated to derive from the Latin word ‘capsa’, a box, referring to the shape of the fruit in forms of the typical species.[11] Although the species name annuum means 'annual' (from the Latin annus "year"), the plant is not an annual but is frost tender.[12] In the absence of winter frosts it can survive several seasons and grow into a large, shrubby perennial herb.[13]
Common names including the word "pepper" stem from a misconception on the part of Europeans taking part in the Columbian exchange. They mistakingly thought the spicy fruits were a variety of the black pepper plant which also has spicy fruit. However, these two plants are not closely related.[14]
Commonly used names for the fruit of Capsicum annuum in English varies by location and cultivar. The larger, sweeter cultivars are called "capsicum" in Australia and New Zealand.[15] In Great Britain and Ireland cultivars of the plant are typically discussed in groups of either “sweet” or “hot/chilli” peppers, only rarely providing the specific cultivar.[16] In Canada or the US it is commonplace to provide the cultivar in most instances, for example "bell", "jalapeño", "cayenne", or "bird's eye" peppers, to convey differences in taste including sweetness or pungency.[17]
The species is a source of popular sweet peppers and hot chilis with numerous varieties cultivated all around the world, and is the source of popular spices such as cayenne, chili, and paprika powders, as well as pimiento (pimento).
Capsinoid chemicals provide the distinctive tastes in C. annuum variants. In particular, capsaicin creates a burning sensation ("hotness"), which in extreme cases can last for several hours after ingestion. A measurement called the Scoville scale has been created to describe the hotness of peppers and other foods.
Hot peppers are used in traditional medicine as well as food in Africa.[18] English botanist John Lindley described C. annuum in his 1838 Flora Medica thus:[19]
It is employed in medicine, in combination with Cinchona in intermittent and lethargic affections, and also in atonic gout, dyspepsia accompanied by flatulence, tympanitis, paralysis etc. Its most valuable application appears however to be in cynanche maligna (acute diphtheria) and scarlatina maligna (malignant Scarlet fever, used either as a gargle or administered internally.)
In Ayurveda, C. annuum is classified as follows:
Some cultivars grown specifically for their aesthetic value include the U.S. National Arboretum's 'Black Pearl'[20] and the 'Bolivian Rainbow'. Ornamental varieties tend to have unusually colored fruit and foliage with colors such as black and purple being notable. All are edible, and most (like 'Royal Black') are hot.
The potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella) is an oligophagous insect that prefers to feed on plants of the family Solanaceae such as pepper plants. Female P. operculella use the leaves to lay their eggs and the hatched larvae will eat away at the mesophyll of the leaf.
Capsicum annuum L var. fasciculatum Irish.
Capsicum annuum L. var. fasciculatum Irish.
Dried Capsicum annuum Red chili pepper
Capsicum annuum cultivars
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Dried Guajillo chile pod
Typical Capsicum annuum flower, Royal Embers.
Bolivian Rainbow with its fruits in different stages of ripeness.
Capsicum annuum var. bola or ñora
Capsicum annuum Count Dracula
Dried Capsicum annuum Red chili pepper on Nanglo
Dried Capsicum annuum Red chili pepper
NuMex Memorial Day
Capsicum annuum Explosive Embers
Chili pepper 'subicho' seeds for planting
Bell pepper in Eastern Siberia
Capsicum annuum is a species of the plant genus Capsicum native to southern North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. This species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capsicums. The species encompasses a wide variety of shapes and sizes of peppers, including sweet bell peppers and some chili pepper varieties such as jalapeños, New Mexico chile, and cayenne peppers, all of which are nightshades. Cultivars descended from the wild American bird pepper are still found in warmer regions of the Americas. In the past, some woody forms of this species have been called C. frutescens, but the features that were used to distinguish those forms appear in many populations of C. annuum and are not consistently recognizable features in C. frutescens species.
