Bird Pepper
by Valerie (May 4, 2002)
Although I enjoy salsa as much as the next Texan, I'm not a big fan of the super hot peppers. Bird pepper (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) is just a lovely little ornamental plant that does quite well for us. It is a perennial native growing just over a foot tall, with delicate bright green leaves and tiny fruits that never even reach ½ inch in length. The foliage freezes back to the ground but comes back early in the spring and the plant wilts during drought but survives, perking up when watered. The peppers start out green, turning bright red at maturity. This pepper, which is one of dozens of varieties within the species, has the reputation of being the hottest in the world.
Some of the many other common names of this plant are pinhead pepper, chile petin, chile pequin, piquin, chiltecpin and chile mosquito. Because birds relish the fruits (they aren't affected by the burning sensation that repels many mammals), once they mature, the plant does not retain them for long. Our pepper plant is rather hidden with other flowers and shrubs so the birds missed the ripe fruits long enough for me to get a photo. By the next time I checked, they were all gone. |