Types of Chili Peppers

Five species cover nearly every pepper anyone grows or eats. Capsicum annuum holds the bells, jalapeños, cayennes, poblanos and most of Asia’s small hot chiles. C. chinense holds the habaneros, Scotch bonnets and every superhot. C. baccatum is the Andean ají. C. pubescens is the rocoto, with black seeds and hairy leaves. C. frutescens gives Tabasco and the bird peppers. Beyond those five sit about thirty wild species, a few of which are in this database.

“Type” means different things to different people, so this page sorts the same 5,248 varieties five ways: by species, by heat band on the Scoville scale, by pod shape, by ripe color, and by where the variety came from. A pepper appears in every list it belongs to. Counts are live.

By species

The domesticated five, then the wild species the database tracks.

Capsicum annuum2,282 varieties Capsicum chinense2,180 varieties Capsicum baccatum313 varieties Capsicum pubescens196 varieties Capsicum frutescens152 varieties

C. annuum var. glabriusculumwild · 63 varieties C. eximiumwild · 31 varieties C. chacoensewild · 26 varieties C. praetermissumwild · 24 varieties C. flexuosumwild · 8 varieties C. cardenasiiwild · 7 varieties C. galapagoensewild · 5 varieties

By heat

Six bands on the Scoville scale, from zero to the superhots above 500,000 SHU.

Superhot Peppers500,001+ SHU · 703 varieties Very Hot Peppers100,001–500,000 SHU · 356 varieties Hot Peppers15,001–100,000 SHU · 1,984 varieties Medium-Heat Peppers1,001–15,000 SHU · 956 varieties Mild Peppers1–1,000 SHU · 280 varieties No-Heat (Sweet) Peppers0 SHU · 65 varieties

By pod shape

Shape tracks species and use more than heat does.

Bonnet Peppers92 varieties Round and Cherry Peppers223 varieties Bell Peppers72 varieties

By ripe color

Red is the default; these are the others, and the pigment behind each.

Purple Peppers141 varieties Black Chili Peppers125 varieties White Peppers145 varieties Brown and Chocolate Peppers212 varieties Peach Peppers133 varieties Yellow Peppers340 varieties Orange Peppers288 varieties

By origin

Where the variety was domesticated, bred or collected, as recorded on each entry.

Thai Peppers59 varieties Mexican Peppers398 varieties Hungarian Peppers33 varieties Brazilian Peppers124 varieties Italian Peppers48 varieties Peruvian Peppers168 varieties Bolivian Peppers195 varieties Chinese Peppers9 varieties Caribbean Peppers318 varieties Japanese Peppers10 varieties Indian Peppers213 varieties Trinidad Peppers247 varieties African Peppers28 varieties American Peppers224 varieties British Peppers85 varieties

Side by side

The comparisons people ask for most, answered from the records.

Banana vs Pepperonciniheat, species, size, origin Jalapeño vs Serranoheat, species, size, origin Scotch Bonnet vs Habaneroheat, species, size, origin Carolina Reaper vs Ghost Pepperheat, species, size, origin Poblano vs Jalapeñoheat, species, size, origin Poblano vs Anaheimheat, species, size, origin Chiltepín vs Pequínheat, species, size, origin Habanero vs Jalapeñoheat, species, size, origin Ghost Pepper vs Trinidad Scorpionheat, species, size, origin Habanero vs Ghost Pepperheat, species, size, origin Serrano vs Habaneroheat, species, size, origin Anaheim vs Jalapeñoheat, species, size, origin Pasilla vs Poblanoheat, species, size, origin Carolina Reaper vs Trinidad Scorpionheat, species, size, origin

Looking for one pepper? Search the full database, or use the identifier if you have a pod and no name.

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