The bird’s eye chili plant is a perennial with small, tapering fruits, often 2-3, at a node. The fruits of most varieties are red, some are yellow, purple or black. The fruits are very pungent. The flowers are greenish white or yellowish white.
Taxonomically, it has long been thought that the bird’s eye chili belongs to Capsicum frutescens L., but there are now some who list the bird’s eye chili as belonging to Capsicum chinense.
The bird’s eye chili is small but packs quite a lot of heat. At one time it was even listed as the hottest chili in the Guinness Book of World Records but other hotter varieties of chili have since been identified. It measures around 50,000-100,000 Scoville units which is at the lower end of the range for the hotter habanero chili.
Uses
The fruit of the bird’s eye chili is popularly used as a spicy and chili condiment while its leaves are usually consumed as vegetables. It is what gives local dishes such as bicol express their fiery zing. It is also used to flavor vinegar.
The leaves are also edible (Known to be used in Tinola).
Ornamentals
The more decorative, but slightly less pungent variety, sometimes known as Thai Ornamental, has peppers that point upward on the plant, and go from green to yellow, orange, and then red. It is the basis for the hybrid Numex twilight, essentially the same but less pungent and starting with purple fruit, creating a rainbow effect, and among the group of Capsicum annuum. These peppers can grow wild in places like Saipan and Guam. The Chinese in Southeast Asia call this pepper ‘the chili that points to the sky’.
Medicine
In medicinal terms, the chili was earlier utilized as an herbal plant to ease arthritis and rheumatism. Likewise, the bird’s eye chili is suggested to be an effective cure for dyspepsia, flatulence, and toothache.
It can also be used as a natural insect repellent or pesticide when mixed with water.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_pepper
See Also: florist Paris, Vietnam flower, India flower
