Types of Chili Peppers

Five species cover nearly every pepper anyone grows or eats. C. 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 5,197 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.

C. annuum2,229 varieties C. annuum var. glabriusculum

C. chinense2,145 varieties

C. baccatum328 varieties

C. pubescens195 varieties

C. frutescens158 varieties

C. eximiumwild · 31 varieties C. chacoensewild · 25 varieties C. praetermissumwild · 25 varieties C. flexuosumwild · 8 varieties C. cardenasiiwild · 7 varieties C. galapagoensewild · 4 varieties

By heat

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

Superhot Peppers500,001+ SHU · 728 varieties Very Hot Peppers100,001–500,000 SHU · 407 varieties Hot Peppers15,001–100,000 SHU · 1,844 varieties Medium-Heat Peppers1,001–15,000 SHU · 928 varieties Mild Peppers1–1,000 SHU · 328 varieties No-Heat (Sweet) Peppers0 SHU · 118 varieties

By pod shape

Shape tracks species and use more than heat does.

Bonnet Peppers93 varieties Round and Cherry Peppers224 varieties Bell Peppers71 varieties

By ripe color

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

Blue/Purple Peppers137 varieties Black Chili Peppers112 varieties White Peppers153 varieties Brown and Chocolate Peppers202 varieties Peach Peppers141 varieties Yellow Peppers373 varieties Orange Peppers337 varieties

By origin

Where the variety was domesticated, bred or collected, recorded as a country of origin.

Afghanistan Peppers4 varieties Albania Peppers1 variety Angola Peppers1 variety Argentina Peppers16 varieties Armenia Peppers1 variety Australia Peppers10 varieties Austria Peppers2 varieties Bahamas Peppers6 varieties Bangladesh Peppers3 varieties Barbados Peppers4 varieties Belgium Peppers1 variety Bermuda Peppers1 variety Bolivian Peppers74 varieties Brazilian Peppers234 varieties Bulgaria Peppers5 varieties Cambodia Peppers1 variety Canada Peppers4 varieties Central African Republic Peppers6 varieties Chile Peppers2 varieties Chinese Peppers18 varieties Colombia Peppers53 varieties Costa Rica Peppers33 varieties Croatia Peppers1 variety Cuba Peppers10 varieties Czech Republic Peppers1 variety Democratic Republic of the Congo Peppers1 variety Denmark Peppers4 varieties Ecuador Peppers36 varieties Egypt Peppers1 variety El Salvador Peppers3 varieties England Peppers46 varieties Ethiopia Peppers6 varieties Fiji Peppers1 variety Finland Peppers7 varieties France Peppers11 varieties French Guiana Peppers26 varieties Georgia Peppers2 varieties Germany Peppers4 varieties Ghana Peppers3 varieties Greece Peppers2 varieties Grenada Peppers1 variety Guadeloupe Peppers1 variety Guatemala Peppers15 varieties Guyana Peppers8 varieties Haiti Peppers2 varieties Honduras Peppers2 varieties Hungarian Peppers32 varieties Indian Peppers26 varieties Indonesia Peppers6 varieties Iran Peppers2 varieties Italian Peppers98 varieties Jamaica Peppers14 varieties Japanese Peppers20 varieties Laos Peppers1 variety Lebanon Peppers1 variety Malawi Peppers1 variety Malaysia Peppers3 varieties Maldives Peppers3 varieties Martinique Peppers1 variety Mexican Peppers361 varieties Nepal Peppers2 varieties Netherlands Peppers3 varieties Nicaragua Peppers1 variety Nigeria Peppers1 variety North Macedonia Peppers6 varieties Northern Mariana Islands Peppers1 variety Panama Peppers1 variety Paraguay Peppers1 variety Peruvian Peppers157 varieties Philippines Peppers5 varieties Poland Peppers4 varieties Portugal Peppers3 varieties Puerto Rico Peppers11 varieties Romania Peppers3 varieties Russia Peppers9 varieties Saint Barthélemy Peppers1 variety Saint Lucia Peppers2 varieties Samoa Peppers1 variety Sierra Leone Peppers1 variety Slovakia Peppers1 variety South Africa Peppers6 varieties South Korea Peppers5 varieties Spain Peppers22 varieties Sudan Peppers1 variety Suriname Peppers7 varieties Sweden Peppers2 varieties Switzerland Peppers2 varieties Syria Peppers7 varieties Thai Peppers62 varieties Trinidad and Tobago Peppers249 varieties Tunisia Peppers1 variety Turkey Peppers27 varieties Uganda Peppers1 variety Ukraine Peppers4 varieties American Peppers491 varieties Venezuela Peppers14 varieties Vietnam Peppers4 varieties Wales Peppers35 varieties Zambia Peppers1 variety Zimbabwe Peppers1 variety

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 pepper identifier if you have a pod and no name.

Ask Artie!