Green-fingered enthusiasts in Fife have warned locals they accidentally sold a poisonous bush they mistook as a chilli plant.
Initially sold as a Chinese Chilli Plant, anyone who bought one in Largo has now been warned it could actually be a toxic Chinese Lantern.
Ian Cameron of the Largo and Newburn Horticultural Society took to Facebook to warn locals in Fife who may have bought the plant at a recent fair organised by the group.
Unripe Chinese Lantern berries can be “highly toxic”, with experts saying it can be difficult to tell when they are safe to eat.
Mr Cameron said earlier this week: “This is to notify anyone who attended our plant sale in May and bought what we were told were Chinese Chillies.
“These plants were in fact Chinese Lanterns. The fruit of this plant is edible when fully ripe but the rest of the plant is poisonous. Please be careful.
“The seed was donated to the club and grown on by one of our members in good faith. It was difficult to tell at the early stage that the plants were not chilies.
“Our sincere apologies to anyone who bought these plants.”
NHS Fife told The Courier the group had done the correct thing putting out a notice in an attempt to alert those affected.
‘Highly toxic’
An article by Diana Grant, a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, said the plants, also known as “devil’s berries”, could be “highly toxic and possibly fatal”.
Unripe berries and the leaves of the plant are poisonous to both humans and animals, but their dried pods are often used as floral decoration by growers.
Chilli plant warning
Diana Grant explained symptoms can include a headache as well as stomach problems, “a low temperature, dilated pupils, breathing problems and numbness”.
“The attractive, bright orange seed pods of Chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi) are poisonous, and the unripe berries can be highly toxic and possibly fatal (although the ripe fruit is edible)”, she explained.
The Largo and Newburn Horticultural Society did not respond to a request for comment.
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