[CH] What is this plant??

David C. Yoshiba (av8d-ysb@asahi-net.or.jp)
Wed, 7 Jul 1999 11:32:43 +0900

Hello, folks,

While wandering around the local gardening center last week, I stumbled
across a bunch of unusual chiles. I couldn't resist picking a couple of them
up.

I have no idea of what they really are, so I've put up a couple of pictures
on one of my pages rather than clutter the mailboxes of the uninterested. If
anyone can tell me what they are, I would be grateful. The are located at
http://www.geocities.com:80/NapaValley/6855/what.html.

They had two types that looked more or less the same. They both had the same
name attached to them--nishiki sango. Directly translated, it would mean
"brocade coral". The fruit on one are more round, but with pointed tops. On
the other, they are more conical and somewhat wrinkled. Both have erect
habits, erect fruit,  green leaves and electric purple fruit. They are light
purple rather than a dark purple. The only difference I could detect is the
slightly different pod shapes.

The pods are thinned-walled, as one would expect. They taste more or less
like serranos, but are only about as hot as an upper-scale jalapeno.

The woman working at the garden center said that they could be grown from
the seed of the plant, suggesting that they are not F1 hybrids. She also
said that they had been clipped back when they were 4 inches (10 cm) tall in
order to give them a thicker, woodier base.

If you know what these things are, please write to me and let me know.

Thanks,