In taxonomy, some mysteries refuse to die. Capsicum arachnoideum was one of them. A name whispered in old papers, a supposed wild Bolivian species with small purple flowers, hairy leaves, and long spider-leg calyx appendages. For decades, it hovered somewhere between myth and record.
In 2020, a year after relocating Capsicum eshbaughii near Samaipata, I returned to Bolivia chasing that same ghost.
by ThePepperGuru