Bird Pepper / Chiltepin
Capsicum annuum (var. glabriusculum)
WARNING: these peppers are extremely spicy. Don’t just eat them raw on a walk through the woods. It will burn. It will hurt. Just because a bird can chow down on it doesn’t mean you can (birds can’t perceive spiciness). Please don’t touch these and then touch your eyes or any other mucous membranes. It will hurt. I cannot overstate this. Be careful when handling peppers!
The bird pepper has a Scovile rating of 50,000 - 100,000 SHU-- which, for comparison, is more than twice as hot as a jalapeño and about 50% hotter than a cayenne pepper. They have the most heat when young and green and mellow out a bit when ripe and red. They can be used as one would use any pepper: in salsa, in pickles, or as a seasoning. The plants prefer partial shade and may often be found in the sparse undergrowth at the edge of a walking trail
The Hopi strung up the spicy fruits to dry for winter use, crushing the dried peppers to season food. The Cherokee applied a poultice of the plant to the soles of the feet ‘in nervous or low fevers’ and used the plant for colds and as a stimulant. The Navajo applied powdered pepper to the breast to wean a nursing child (ouch!).
Most herbal preparations of capsicum plants are NOT internal due to their spiciness. However, poultices and ointments containing the plant are used as a topical analgesic in products like Salonpas heat patches and Tiger Balm. Capsaicin is the primary pharmacologically active component and triggers a burning or warming sensation (depending on how much is used) which may act as a counter-irritant or increase blood flow to the sore region. To avoid more severe chemical burning, it’s recommended that you use easy-to-find and cheap comercially available preparations for this purpose rather than making your own! And of course-- never apply it to any mucous membranes!
