Meet the Chiltepin / Tepin - The ancient Chiltepin is called the “mother of all peppers,” and is thought to be the oldest of all Capsicum annum species. The Chiltepin pepper is a native plant in Arizona, Texas, Florida, New Mexico and Central and South America. You can find this plant growing wild in Texas, Arizona and Mexico. Many birds consume the Tepin pepper and disperse the seeds into the wild, but do not feel the ‘heat’ of the pepper like mammals, even though these are super Hot with Scoville Heat Units ranging from 50,000 - 100,000! One pepper adds a nice kick to a bowl of salsa. The word Tepin is from the Nahuatl language of the Aztec Indians. It means “flea” because of its small size.
Did you know that all peppers are perennials? So if your Tepin plant survives the winter without freezing, the shrub can get very large and provide you with tons of peppers for making hot sauce, salsa recipes, or hot pepper flakes. Without frost, these ancient pepper plants can grow to a height of around 3.5 feet, but in ideal conditions it can reach up to 9 feet tall! Now that's what we would call a nice pepper plant!
Learn more about this mighty little pepper:
