The plant has come a long way too. The native habitat of Habanero chili peppers is the lowland tropics where temperatures are high, soil is dry, and the air is moist. Seeds were brought back to Europe by early explorers and later grown by gardeners in the US. Though the European and US climates are mostly unsuitable for the all-year production possible in the tropics, it was an Englishman with a flair for the cosmopolitan, who has the credit of crossing two varieties of Capsicum chinense with the Asian pepper, Capsicum frutescens, to produce the Naga Viper.