bird pepper

American  

noun

1. a variety of pepper, Capsicum anuum glabriusculum, with small, elongated berries.

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bird pepper British  

noun

1. a tropical solanaceous plant, Capsicum frutescens , thought to be the ancestor of the sweet pepper and many hot peppers

2. the narrow podlike hot-tasting fruit of this plant

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Etymology

Origin of bird pepper

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

The Texas bird pepper, obtained from Dr. Samuel Brown of Natchez, Mississippi, was a Jefferson favorite.

From Southern Living • Oct. 1, 2012

There is the pimiento dulce and the pimiento picante, the sweet fruit of the common capsicum, and the fruit of the bird pepper capsicum.

From Life in Mexico by Calderón de la Barca, Madame (Frances Erskine Inglis)

Cayenne pepper is an indiscriminate mixture of the powder of the dried pods of many species of capsicum, but especially of the capsicum frutescens, or bird pepper, which is the hottest of all.

From A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons Exhibiting the Fraudulent Sophistications of Bread, Beer, Wine, Spiritous Liquors, Tea, Coffee, Cream, Confectionery, Vinegar, Mustard, Pepper, Cheese, Olive Oil, Pickles, and Other Articles Employed in Domestic Economy by Accum, Friedrich Christian

The dried fruit of a plant called bird pepper, a native of both Indies.

From A Catechism of Familiar Things; Their History, and the Events Which Led to Their Discovery. With a Short Explanation of Some of the Principal Natural Phenomena. For the Use of Schools and Families. Enlarged and Revised Edition. by Anonymous

Foreign Cayenne pepper is an indiscriminate mixture of the powder of the dried pods of many species of capsicums, especially of the bird pepper, which is the hottest of all.

From The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual by Kitchiner, William