Cayenne Orange

Cayenne Orange, often sold as Orange Cayenne, is an orange-ripening cayenne-type chilli marketed for its long, slender pods and suitability for fresh use, drying, and powder making. One produce reference describes it as a hybrid pepper similar to red cayenne with an average heat around 35,000 SHU. Seed listings commonly describe the pods as slender and slightly curved, often around 10.5–15.5 cm long.

The name is used inconsistently in the pepper trade. Some listings present Orange Cayenne as Capsicum annuum and describe it as a hybrid very close to standard cayenne types. However, at least one nursery listing sells “Cayenne – Orange” as Capsicum baccatum, with a French Guiana origin claim, fruit around 10.0 cm long and 2.0 cm wide, and plants growing over 1.0 metre tall. This conflict suggests that more than one distinct pepper line may be circulating under very similar Orange Cayenne naming rather than one universally standardised cultivar.

The heat value of 35,000 SHU is consistent with the better-aligned cayenne-type descriptions, but the species assignment and exact origin should be treated with some caution because of the naming overlap and conflicting seller taxonomy.