Capsicum chinense is a species.
Capsicum chinense , commonly known as the `` bonnet pepper '' is a species of chili pepper native to the Americas . The hottest peppers in the world are members of this species , with Scoville Heat Unit scores of over 1.5 million . Some taxonomists consider them to be part of the species C. annuum , and they are a member of the C. annuum complex . The two species can also hybridize and generate inter-specific hybrids . It is believed that C. frutescens is the ancestor to the C. chinense species .