Costa Rica Orange

Costa Rica Orange is a compact ornamental Capsicum frutescens grown for its dramatic dark foliage, purple flowers, and glowing orange ripe fruit. Public grower records show it in circulation by 2017, and later chilli forum listings and grow logs continue to place it in the frutescens group. It is also presented as the orange-fruited counterpart to the red Costa Rica type, with the same dark ornamental plant character but finishing in orange rather than red.

The plant is generally described at about 60 to 80 cm tall with a compact, tidy habit that suits pots, balconies, borders, and ornamental displays. Its foliage begins green and darkens to black, while the flowers are violet to purple. The pods are small, glossy, and usually rounded to slightly elongated, around 4 to 6 cm long, starting black and ripening to a bright orange. The overall look is one of the most distinctive traits of the variety, with the dark plant and orange fruit giving it a very high ornamental value.

Costa Rica Orange is usually described as having a medium to fairly strong heat with a slow-building burn, and seller descriptions place it around the upper mid-heat range. Its flavour is commonly described as fruity, floral, lightly sweet, and slightly lemony or sweet-salty, making it useful for fresh sauces, salsas, and colourful hot powders as well as for display. One major circulation issue is that some growers have reported red-ripening or unstable material under the Costa Rica Orange name, but the core identity most consistently tied to the name is a Costa Rican frutescens cultivar with green-to-black foliage, purple flowers, black immature fruit, and orange mature pods.