With a slight pebbly surface, diminutive size and deep orange, red and yellow folds, the latest member of horticultural royalty seems to hardly deserve a second glance. An aromatic accident of nature, it could however be considered an incendiary heat reeking missile and a hazardous combustible material in an explosive arsenal, given that it is nearly all furious fire and hissing flames like the spectacular magnesium shotgun round also called “Dragon’s Breath.”
The world’s latest hottest chilli, revealed recently, measures a mere thumb nail and soars in at a searing minimum 2.4 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Harvested from a majestic metre-high “lovely looking” tree not in the tropics but in chilly North Wales, Great Britain, it was rightly named for the mythical fire-breathing beast and is now on proud display at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Ironically a valuable fruit that originated this diverse side of the planet, the chilli is locked in an “arms race” that has rapidly fired up over the last decade of global warming.
