Common Name: Datil Pepper Variety: Capsicum sinense Jacques Heat Level: 7

DESCRIPTION
     Datil (Capsicum chinense jacquin) A native pepper from St. Augustine, Florida.  The pepper is thought to have been brought there around 1776 when the surviving Minorcans fled to that city to escape the abuses at Turnbull's plantation. 

     The pepper can rate as high as 300,000 Scoville Units, almost as hot as the Habanero. 

     The plants are 1½ to 2½ feet high; the fruits are from ½ to 4 inches long, varying in shape from spherical to oblong. Bright orange when ripe. This species is most readily distinguished by the three to five flowers at each node, the drooping pedicels and the circular constriction at the base of the fruit 'cap'. Does not grow well elsewhere. Light green pepper turns to golden yellow when ripe.

     Most of the other hot varieties of pepper are usually either C. annuum or C. frutescens.

CULTURE
     Datil pepper is grown in a manner similar to other hot and mild peppers. Plant seed or set out transplants during frost-free periods. The plants need about five months to reach mature size. Occasionally, seed of datil will be offered for sale by gardeners. Otherwise, such seed is not always easy to obtain. One problem encountered in St. Augustine is the pepper weevil. These insects insert an egg at the base of the fruit in the pedicel; the developing maggot then causes the small fruit to drop.

USE
     Most datil peppers are made into a hot sauce.