PlantFiles: Chili Pepper, Hot Pepper, Chile Petin, Chile Piquin (Pequin), Bird Pepper
Capsicum annuum var. aviculare

I use to belive this plant would only grow if passed throught a bird first.........LOL Because you only find it on fence lines.
I have been able to germinate a few since then so I now know a bird has nothing to do with the germination...still LOL

Great addition to the garden.

This pepper grows wild in some places here. It's sowed by the birds. It dies back in the winter and resprouts from the crown. I noticed just today that the plants are starting to put out new leaves.

I work for the county. As such, I travel the many county roads. We have found at least 3 locations where Chiltepin grow. They are always in, or next to other larger plants or trees. They are always in a low spot which gets more water. I have two transplanted to around my house and one small one that I put in a pot and kept inside my house until the ground is warm enough to transplant. It is growing just fine since I was able to get the whole ball and roots. I still have a few dried Chiltepin berries that I am hoarding until the next harvest. I usually eat 3 or 4 with lunch. You may get one or two that aren't very hot. The next one will take the top of your head off!

Four years ago I transplanted a wild plant from my mother-in-law's property in Beeville, TX. It dies to the ground in winter but has come back stronger every year, and has been a prolific producer. Last year it was about 3 feet high and wide. It is very attractive when it is covered with chiles.

We bought a small plant from a produce market here in Houston. The plant is about 1 year old and has produced lots of peppers. It even produced peppers through the winter and suffered no damage. Our plant looks like a very bushy 3' shrub now.

I have it growing in my garden now for 2 years. I, also, have it growing in a pot in the greenhouse.

Extremely hot little peppers. They are pretty much care free in the garden and produce a gazillion little fire balls on each plant.

Attractive to birds, as many stated above, they will be quite at home in the flowerbed or in the veggie patch.

These peppers are extremely hot....the size is misleading. Care should be taken when cooking with hem, as you can add more than you can stand in a hurry.

Great plant, makes a small 'tree', about 2 ft tall. My best success withthis plant has always been with self planting. Any that I plant grow for about one season, then die. Next year I discover a new chili growing nearby, and this one will keep growing for years and years. Odd, but true.

The chilis are very useful for adding heat, as previously noted, but it should also be noted that they should not be under-estimated. It takes only a few chilis to season a whole pot.

It should also be noted that, while I am not entirely sure about botanically, but the Chiltepin and the Chilpequin are two deifferent things. The Chilitepin has round chilis and are much more expensive to buy in stores, while the Chilpequin is smaller and more oblong in shape. Since I have always grown my own Chiltepines, I don't use the Chilpequin and can't tell you anything about any flavor difference they may have.

Also the Chiltepin is also available in a purple variety, which has purple flowers, stems and chilis, as well as purple tinted leaves.

San Antonio, Tx.
This pepper plant is a nice addition to any flower bed with its deep green foliage, small white flowers, deep green immature fruit and bright red mature fruit. It requires little care. I have had one growing in my yard for 20 years. The birds, especially mockingbirds, DO LOVE the fruit (birds have no "hot" taste sensors). If transplanting, but careful to dig up all of the tap root. The plant will wilt until it reestablishes itself. Just keep it well watered until it does.

The bird pepper is an excellent source of heat and sharp pepper flavor. Mashed and mixed in otherwise bland foods, such as scrambled eggs, they add zest that is hard to beat. Three of them in a crock-pot pot roast will make an exceptional dish. And don't forget the mockingbirds. My plant keeps two female mockingbirds constantly squabbling over rights to the harvest.