2nd Year Habs Growing Stingers?

[Phil]

I KNOW these are common orange habaneros. I've gotten hundreds of peppers off of this plant the past couple of years. But now they're growing stingers! Anyone seen this before? What would cause this? Just an anomaly, I assume.
 

 

 
 

OR..... is it possible that the peach ghost scorpion I have growing 5 feet away crossed with it? Nah.... couldn't be on the parent plant....

 

[pepperdan]

I know this crazy weather has allot of plants doing crazy things, my scotch bonnets have done everything
From grow elongated like a ghost, to tails, not like exactly like that, but tails

 

[KingChile]

those look crazy

 

[Phil]

Maybe it is the heat.... I have some red mushrooms that are growing elongated

 

[PepperDaddy]

I've got cherry bombs that are elongated and my fresnos look like red jalapenos.  Don't plants need to be isolated from other varieties to prevent cross germination?  If it's the same plant and was not isolated, maybe that happened? 

 

[Phil]

Crosses shouldn't show up on the parent plant.... just the offspring. Emphasis on shouldn't

 

[Aji hombre]

to me that doesn't look like a scorpion tail, which seems to result from a restriction/non-expansion of the lower half of the developing pod. this looks more like the ovarium growing into the style remnant--a different mechanism. but an interesting pepper nonetheless

 

[Phil]

to me that doesn't look like a scorpion tail, which seems to result from a restriction/non-expansion of the lower half of the developing pod. this looks more like the ovarium growing into the style remnant--a different mechanism. but an interesting pepper nonetheless

 
Agreed. It is the ovarium. Just the first time I've seen them do this.

 

[nyplumber]

Cross pollenation maybe from a bee

 

[ms1476]

Hard to tell what is further back in the plants genetic history before you got ahold of those seeds. Recessive traits can present several generations later. Whatever the cause may be, you have a freaky mutation that is really cool looking. Save some seeds from the fattest, healthiest, most gnarly-looking pod and grow em out next year. I have plenty of different habs growing, but none like yours. Congrats.