Capsicum pubescens (Solanaceae) in Indonesia: Its History, Taxonomy, and Distribution
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HARRY WIRIADINATA3
2
Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima University, Korimoto 1-21-24, Kagoshima, 890-8580, Japan 3 Research Center for Biology, Cibinong Science Center, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jalan Raya Jakarta-Bogor Km46, Cibinong, 16911, Indonesia *Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] Key Words: Bandung, cultivation, Dieng Plateau, ethnobotany, specimen, tropical highlands, white flower type.
Introduction Capsicum pubescens Ruiz & Pav. probably originated in the mid-elevations of Bolivia (Eshbaugh 1975) and has been domesticated since around 6,000 B.C.E. (DeWitt 1999:240–242). The species was originally described by Ruiz and Pavon at the end of the eighteenth century from plants in Peru (Ruiz and Pavon 1798:30–31). Heiser (1987:25) noted that C. pubescens was the most common pepper among the Incas, just as it is today in Cuzco, the former capital of the Incan empire. Morphologically, C. pubescens has distinctive characteristics compared to the other domesticated species, such as purple flowers (sometimes with a white center), black seeds, hairy leaves, and ecological adaptations to tropical highland climates. This species is still primarily cultivated in Andean South America; however, it is also cultivated in the Central American highlands, where it was likely introduced in the twentieth century (McLeod et al. 1982). Cultivation of C. pubescens in the rest of the world remains unknown (Basu and De 2003) or is very limited (Bosland and Votava 2000:19–20). There are very few papers on C. pubescens cultivation, especially outside the Americas, except for intro1 Received 7 January 2013; accepted 10 April 2013; published online 9 May 2013 .
ductory trials of C. pubescens as a new cash crop in Nagano, Japan (Matsushima et al. 2010). In Southeast and East Asia, C. annuum L. and C. frutescens L., and occasionally C. chinense Jacq., are used as condiments, vegetables, and medicines; however, C. pubescens has not been reported outside of Indonesia. Djarwaningsih (1983) reported on C. pubescens from Indonesia, but this report was written in Indonesian and therefore very few researchers have cited it. Moreover, it contained very little information on the distribution and cultivation of C. pubescens because of its focus on the taxonomy and classification of the genus Capsicum in Indonesia. Therefore, in the present study, literature, specimen, field, and market surveys of C. pubescens were conducted to investigate its introduction into Indonesia and to reveal its present distribution and cultivation.
Study Site and Data Collection Fieldwork was conducted in West Java (January to February 2012), Central Java (March 2012), the Karimunjawa Islands (June 2011), East Java (November 2012), and Bali Island (October 2011). Fig. 1 shows the study sites. The work consisted of plant observations and local interviews about C. pubescens in 14 fields (local names and prices) and in 27 markets (local names, prices, and production sites). Specimens of the genus Capsicum
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