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My mother-in-law brought these seeds with her from Calabria, Italy, many many years ago. We've called it an Italian Pepper Plant, but I'm thinking it may actually be the Bolivian Rainbow Chile Pepper. I've been growing it from seeds from each year's previous plants. The plants are gorgeous, with small, hot peppers of purple, green, yellow, red and orange all at the same time. Several of my neighbors are now growing them as well.
Thanks in advance for your help!
PM24
Try Capsicum annuum. Some of them are very HOT. Also some of them can become small woody shrubs if they never experience cold weather. Try taking it inside for the winter. I had one of mine for 5 years.
Thanks! I've compared my pepper shape to that of the Capsicum annuum and I think that mine are more pointy. Additionally, it appears that your leaves are variegated, and mine are solid green. Hopefully some other pepper experts chime in...
Capsicum annuum is simply the Latin generic designation for most peppers that you'll commonly find. Bell peppers are C. annuum, as are Jalapenos and Banana Peppers.
You are looking for a cultivar name, which may be impossible. Peppers cross pollinate like crazy, and if they have been planted near any other peppers, at any time, there will be subtle characteristic differences in these and the originals.
There are many peppers similar to the picture...a great number of the purplish pointy fruits that are held upright are popular in the Yugoslavia/Albania area. I have one from Serbia that looks similar, but the plants have dark purple stems. It's not much of a stretch to find them in Italy.
I would simply name them Nana's (or whatever she's called) Calabria Peppers. It's an heirloom if it's been passed down through a family, and you have naming rights. Without DNA testing, or a written history of exactly where and how they came to your family, you probably won't find the exact name they started with.
There are literally thousands of pepper cultivars, and I'd rather see them have a family name, as opposed to mis-labeling with a commercial name.
Thank you all. I do believe it's of the Capsicum annuum family. And it may be what youngd24 says, it looks identical. My MIL told me the real story about them when I asked her for clarification. She was visiting Italy about 8 years ago, and a woman that worked for the local priest had them growing everywhere. My MIL thought they were just stunning and begged a few peppers for seeds from her. So they are very popular in the Calabria region of Italy, and now in her and my neighborhoods :-)
