Italian Wax

A thorough discussion of chile peppers is not complete without mentioning classification. From the taxonomy listed below you can see that peppers belong to the Solanaceae family. This means that peppers are related to such other common plants as tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, nightshade and tobacco. The genus for peppers is Capsicum. Within this genus there are five major groups of domesticated peppers – Annuum, Baccatum, Chinense, Frutscens and Pubescens. The Annuum group represents about 180 different varieties including jalapenos, bell peppers, New Mexican chiles, cayennes, etc. By comparison, the baccatum group represents about 20 different domesticated varieties. Italian Wax Peppers are classified in the baccatum group. The name Baccatum loosely translates to “berry-like” and gets its name from the small, round pods produced by the wild varities of this family. There are two wild varities of baccatum that can be found – baccatum baccatum and baccatum microcarpum. The domesticated peppers in the baccatum group have an amazing variation of pepper shapes and sizes. Mature peppers in the baccatum family are typically 25,000 to 60,000 Scoville units. Baccatum plants typically grow between 4 or 5 feet tall and produce large, dark green leaves. Varieties in this family grow very dense and will sprawl if conditions allow. Baccatum varieties mature late in the season.

Those familiar with the history of pepper taxonomy know that classification within the genus has been disputed, altered and rearranged more than once. Most book and web sites related to peppers make little or no mention of an Italian Wax Pepper. Even the hardcore chilehead may be wondering if Italian Wax is really a variety or just some marketing manager’s creation. Compounding classification issues is the fact that many peppers crossbreed. While baccatums do not crossbreed well with other capsicum groups, they do crossbreed within the baccatum group. For certain, the Italian Wax Pepper plant can be classified as a baccatum. One of the characteristics of the baccatum group is yellow/tan/yellow-green markings that appear on the otherwise white blossoms. An Italian Wax Pepper blossom (see pictures) exhibits this characteristic. Other groups show no markings on their blossoms. By shape , the Italian Wax Pepper looks like an Aji Amarillo, another baccatum variety. By coloring, the Italian Wax Pepper is most similar to a White Wax Pepper, however informal plantings show that the Italian Wax Pepper matures slower and to a slightly different color than the White Wax. If the Italian Wax Pepper started out as a White Wax or even an Aji Amarillo, it has likely developed land race characteristics in its Northern California home. Check the History page for more on the 150-year+ presence of the Italian Wax Pepper in Northern California.

TAXONOMY

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Solanales
Family : Solanaceae
Genus : Capsicum