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Tabasco Pepper

Capsicum frutescens

Found in open hammocks, dry disturbed areas; also persistent from gardens, uncommonly cultivated, rare as a waif. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

59
Strong

Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 24%

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At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 17 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Coastal Plain hammocks

Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

24CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Capsicum

  • Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
  • Agrotis malefidaRascal Dart, Pale-Sided Cut-Worm, Shagreened Cut-Worm
  • Anatrachyntis rileyiPink Scavanger Caterpillar
  • Anomis erosaYellow Scallop Moth, Mallow Caterpillar
  • Antheraea polyphemusPolyphemus Moth
  • Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
  • Feltia repletaReplete Dart
  • Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
  • Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
  • Herpetogramma bipunctalisSouthern Beet Webworm, Two-Spotted Herpetogramma
Show all 24
  • Lineodes integraEggplant Leafroller
  • Lorita scarificataChrysanthemum Flower Borer
  • Manduca quinquemaculatusFive-Spotted Hawkmoth, Tomato Hornworm
  • Manduca sextaCarolina Sphinx, Tomatoe Sphinx, Tobacco Hornworm
  • Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
  • Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
  • Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
  • Rhectocraspeda periusalisEggplant Webworm
  • Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera latifasciaOrange-Striped Armyworm, Velvet Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
  • Erelieva quantulella
  • Lineodes triangulalis
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
2BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Capsicum

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Capsicum

  • Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Solanaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rankNot available
Global rankNot available
FL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

In your garden

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Sources