Burning Bush

Burning Bush is a Capsicum annuum chilli sold as a hot, upright-fruiting cultivar. Catalogue descriptions consistently list upright pods about 2–4 inches long and 0.25–0.375 inches wide, ripening from green to red. Plants are commonly described as reaching around 24–30 inches in height, with midseason maturity typically listed in the 70–80 day range.

The pods are often produced in clusters and are commonly used for drying and stir-fry style cooking. It is frequently described as suitable for spicy Asian-style cuisines, where thin, upright peppers are preferred for drying and quick cooking.

Heat reporting varies across sources. Some charts place Burning Bush in a range roughly between 10,000 and 23,000 Scoville units. Because a single value is required, 15000 SHU is used here as a conservative mid-range estimate.

There is significant name confusion online. The name “Burning Bush” is also widely applied to an unrelated habanero-type pepper with lantern-shaped fruit, which is a different species and pod form. Information for that pepper is often incorrectly mixed with this thin, upright-fruiting Capsicum annuum type.

The origin of this annuum cultivar is not clearly documented, and no specific breeder or geographic origin could be reliably confirmed.