Chiltepin Bush

Entries

1. Entry 1

   Chiltepin, Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum, is considered the wild ancestor of cultivated C. annuum, the species that produced bell peppers and many familiar chiles through domestication.

2. Entry 2

   Wild birds eat chiltepin fruit and disperse the seeds while mammals tend to avoid the capsaicin. Experiments support the idea that pungency helps peppers favor seed-dispersing birds over seed-destroying rodents.

3. Entry 3

   In the Arizona-Sonora borderlands, wild chiltepins commonly grow beneath nurse trees and shrubs such as mesquite, ironwood and hackberry. Their shade reduces summer heat and helps protect the peppers from winter frost.

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