Description
Chilli Name: CAPCISUM GEMINIFOLIUM
Chilli Species: Geminifolium
Chilli Origin: Colombia
Chilli Heat: Unknown
Capsicum geminifolium — A Rare and Ancient Wild Chilli from the Andean Forests
Capsicum geminifolium is one of the rarest wild chilli species known, native to the Andean cloud forests of Peru and Colombia. It inhabits high-elevation, humid forests, often found growing in shaded, mossy environments at altitudes between 1,200–2,400 metres. This species is extremely uncommon in cultivation and is of significant interest to botanists studying the evolutionary origins of the Capsicum genus.
The plant is a woody perennial shrub, typically reaching up to 1.5 metres tall. Its most distinctive feature — and the inspiration for its name — is its foliage: geminate leaves, meaning they grow in paired sets on opposite sides of the stem, a rare trait in the genus. The leaves themselves are smooth-edged and medium-sized.
Flowers are greenish-white to pale yellow, solitary, and relatively small, lacking the showy pigmentation seen in domesticated species. The fruit is tiny, round, and red, and based on the current limited data, Capsicum geminifolium is thought to be non-pungent or extremely low in capsaicin, like many of the early-diverging wild species.
Genetically, this species sits on one of the most ancient branches of the Capsicum family tree. It is unable to crossbreed with domesticated types and is highly valuable in research on chilli domestication, capsaicin biosynthesis, and adaptation to forest habitats.
While it has no known culinary use, Capsicum geminifolium is a botanical rarity — a living fossil of the chilli world, preserved in isolated mountain forests. Its continued survival depends on conservation of its native ecosystem and the work of seed banks and researchers dedicated to preserving wild Capsicum diversity.