Black Pearl: Beauty With a Bite

A new culinary ornamental pepper bredby Agricultural Research Service (ARS)scientists in Beltsville, Md., is earning accolades in the gardening community.

The eye-catching Black Pearl, released in 2005, was honored as a 2006All-America Selections(AAS) winner. The award recognizes new flower and vegetable varieties thatdemonstrate “superior garden performance” in trials conductedthroughout the country.

With moderately shiny black leaves and glossy fruits that ripen from blackto red, Black Pearl offers a temptation few pepper enthusiasts can resist. ARSplant geneticistsJohnStommel, of the Plant Sciences Institute’sVegetableLaboratory, andRobertGriesbach, of theU.S.National Arboretum’sFloraland Nursery Plants Research Unit, collaborated to breed this popularprize-winner.

How does a plant become an AAS winner?

The first step in breeding any new pepper cultivar is to select the desiredcharacteristics -- in this case, dark leaves and densely clustered, round,black fruits.

It took years to refine Black Pearl’s striking appearance and spicyflavor. Once perfected, it underwent hundreds of trials to determine itsresponse to different environments. Stommel and Griesbach tested Black Pearlwith help from private-sector cooperator PanAmerican Seed Company, Elburn, Ill.,which entered the plant in the AAS competition.

In trials, Black Pearl thrived in a variety of environments throughout thecountry. In addition, it resisted the ravages of drought, as well as of manyinsects and fungi. Robust, attractive and tasty, Black Pearl was a naturalwinner -- and the AAS judges weren’t the only ones to think so. Since itwent on the market, more than 2 million seeds have been sold.

ARS is the U.S. Department ofAgriculture’s chief scientific research agency.