Mirch / Bird's Eye Chilly
Capsicum frutescens
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Mirch
Identify Mirch by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- Confirm fruit type: Berry.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Meghalaya and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Solanaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Mirch.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Capsicum frutescens
- Genus
- Capsicum
- Family
- Solanaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Deciduous forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Native to
- Tropical America
- Distribution
- Cultivated in most parts of the world
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland, Telangana
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Solanaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
- Fruit type
- BerryrecordedA fleshy fruit with seeds embedded directly in the pulp, no central stone.“The berries typically grow erect and are ellipsoid-conical to lanceoloid shaped.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Characters marked “recorded” are for Mirch itself; the rest are typical of the Solanaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- मिर्च Mirch
- Kannada
- ಗಾಂಧಾರಿ ಮೆಣಸು Gandhari Menasu, ಸೂಜಿ ಮೆಣಸು Sooji Menasu, ಜೀರಿಗೆ ಮೆಣಸು Jeerige Menasu
- Malayalam
- Kantharimulaku, Pacha Mulagu, Palmulaku
- Marathi
- लवंगी Lavangi
About Mirch
Bird's eye Chilly (Capsicum frutescens) belongs to the Solanaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and 7 other states. It grows in deciduous forests. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
It is grown for parts that are eaten.
Solanaceae
Nightshade/Tomato family
Mirch belongs to the Solanaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Solanaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Mirch or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides