Pepinela

The Madeirans give this name to the Sechium edule, a plant of the Cucurbitaceae family, which in Portugal is called chuchu or caiota. The latter designation was widely used in Madeira in the past, but is now abandoned, having even been forgotten by the people. Some people unfamiliar with botanical studies tend to call our pepinela by the name pimpinela, when it is certain that there are no relations between the two plants. The pimpinela of Portugal is a rosacea (Sanguisorba minor) that we have seen cultivated in Madeira, but it did not become popular, and there is also a genus of umbellifers called Pimpinella, which includes sweet cicely and other species. The pepinela is native to Central America and produces obovate or obovate-clavate fruits, green or white, with a single seed. The plant is propagated by the whole fruits, which are placed in pits in January and February, sometimes lying down, sometimes with the sprout facing downwards, in which case the same sprout should be bent so that part of it remains above the ground. The pepinela can live in certain cases for more than 10 years, and usually bears little fruit in the first year. Its fruits appear in autumn and early winter, with the green ones being the most flavorful and the white ones being the most suitable for preserves. The pepinela already existed in Madeira in the early 19th century, and its fruits were then known to many people by the extravagant name of pepinos nelas, from which, it seems, the word pepinela derived.