Chiltepin Tepin

• 15 Nov, 2012
• 1 like

Chiltepin Tepin
Capsicum: Annuum
Origin: Sierra Madre, Chihuahua, Mexico 
PI:  511887
Scoville units: 50,000 > 85,000
Blossom end shape: pointed, sunken or mixed
Fruit position and shape: erect, blunt end
Calyx shape: toothless, cup-shaped
Fruit size and color: green > red
Flower: star like, small, saucer-shaped
Petals/Spots: white/none
Filament color: white
Anther color: purple
Habit: small, sprawling
Stem: smooth
Leaves: large, uneven
Germ. Time: 1 wk > 2 mo.
Maturity: 90 days
Plant height: 24 > 36"
Taste: rapid, violent
Uses:· dried, crushed, powder
Tepins are also called chiletepin, bird's eye or bird peppers. They may be found in the wild in Mexico and the southern U.S. tepins are difficult to get to germinate in the home garden. (The seeds germinate readily after passing through a bird's digestive system, though.) They tend to fruit best in second year and should be brought indoors to overwinter. Traditionally, they are harvested by breaking off whole branches and letting the little balls of fire dry before shaking them off and in Mexico tepins are used to season just about everything on the table.
Tepin is derived from a Nahuatl word meaning "flea".
In Mexico, the heat of the Tepin is called arrebatado ("rapid" or "violent"), because, while the heat is intense, it is not very enduring.
History: Accession received as Capsicum annuum var. aviculare 1987 and assigned a PI #, and re-identified as Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum.
Credits & Sources: thechileman Tepin