Chiltepin pepper

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Chiltepin

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Subclass:	Asteridae
Order:	Solanales
Family:	Solanaceae
Genus:	Capsicum
Species:	C. annuum
Subspecies:	**C. a. var. glabrisuculum**

Trinomial name

Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum
(Dunal) Heiser and Pickersgill


Heat: Very Hot (SR: 50,000-100,000)

Chiltepin, or chile tepin, is a wild chile pepper that grows in Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is sometimes called the "mother of all peppers," because it is thought to be the oldest form in the Capsicum annuum species.

The chiles are extremely hot, rating 50,000 to 100,000 Scoville units, but the heat quickly dissipates.

Dried chiltepin chilis

The Wild Chile Botanical Area^[1] in the Coronado National Forest near Tucson, Arizona, has the largest population of chiltepin chile peppers north of Mexico. It is the state native pepper of Texas.

Tepin peppers or “bird’s eye” peppers are supposedly one of the hottest peppers in the world. Some chile enthusiasts argue that the Tepin is hotter than the habanero or Red Savina. These tiny peppers are about 3/8″ round to slightly oval, and are found in the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Northern Mexico. The word “Tepin” comes from the Nahuatl Mexican word meaning “flea”. In 1995, Texans named the Jalapeno pepper the official pepper of Texas, but two years later, the Tepin was named the official native pepper of Texas.

Tepins are extremely hot, measuring between 50,000 and 100,000 Scoville Units. In Mexico, the heat of the Chiltepin is called arrebatado (”rapid” or “violent”), which implies that although the heat is great, it diminishes quickly.