Nearly 16.5-foot cayenne pepper plant might be world's tallest
Jan. 27 (UPI) -- An environmental group in Mississippi might have broken a Guinness World Record with a cayenne pepper plant that grew to be nearly 16.5 feet tall.
Henry Pope, the lead grower and plant geneticist for Mississippi Foundation for Renewable Energy, said he spent seven years cross-pollinating specific pepper plants with an aim toward creating a variety of plant ideal for vertical gardening.
"Opportunity for creating a world record of any kind was never the goal," Pope told the Clarion-Ledger newspaper. "The goal was the same as it always is for us, to produce a natural variety of edible plant that is beneficial to those who wish to become less reliant on the grocery store."
The current record was set in 1999, when California woman Laura Liang's plant grew to be 16 feet tall.
Pope had a team of measurement specialists, plant experts and local officials measure his cayenne for an official application to Guinness World Records. His cayenne was measured at about 16 feet and 5.5 inches tall.
The record-keeping organization must now review evidence from the measuring before the record becomes official.
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