The Field Guide to Peppers

Coauthors DeWitt (Peppers of the World) and Lamson, founder of chiliplants.com, have compiled an extensive listing of 400 of the best-selling varieties of pepper available at Lamson's nursery. This book is useful as an identification guide as well as a selection aid for those deciding which peppers to order and plant. While the information provided about each plant (cultivar name, origin, pods, plant height, harvest time, heat level, and comments) is helpful, the gorgeous and large color photographs are the jewel of this work. Home gardeners may browse without the clutter found in a typical seed or plant catalog, then read on about those varieties that catch the eye. Organized by species name (with Capsicum annuum being further divided by pod type), the book also includes short essays providing growth characteristics, historic origin information, and production information about each species or pod type; however, these essays are less helpful than one would wish as they contain dated U.S. production information and lack references.