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Unidentified 'shrub' - olive like

steveTusteveTu Posts: 2,899
in Plants

Good morning all.

I'm new here ... and new to gardening  (my wife used to be the gardener)...

I have a shrub that must be over two years old (as my wife must have potted it) that stands around a foot high. It has long slender leaves and came out with white flowers in spring that turned into  pea sized round bright green 'fruits' ranging up to about 15mm across. It looks vaguely olive'ish.image

Any ideas as to what it might be?

Steve T

UK - South Coast Retirement Campus (East)

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,542

    it looks like those ornamental peppers sold as house plants.

    Solanum capsicastrum.

    Last edited: 15 August 2017 11:23:19

    Devon.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391

    I think it's Solanum pseudocapsicum, often called Winter cherry.  It's not hardy and the fruits will turn orange but are toxic.  Usually grown as a houseplant.

    Edit: same thing I think, Hosta.

    Last edited: 15 August 2017 11:35:49

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,542

    I think I'm still on the " old school" name Bob.image

    Devon.
  • steveTusteveTu Posts: 2,899

    Hostafan1 - thanks for the quick reply. Just been googling that plant and it looks remarkably like it - especially the flowers. The plant we have has been outdoors as far as I know (I don't recall it being indoors) - but it seems that these thing may be frost hardy anyway.

    I don't have any ripened 'red' fruits as yet...

    Thanks again.

    UK - South Coast Retirement Campus (East)
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,542

    do you live somewhere , very mild Steve? I've never known it survive outside in winter in UK.

    Devon.
  • steveTusteveTu Posts: 2,899

    We're near Eastbourne - so normally relatively mild.

    My wife died two years ago, and she was very ill for 18 months before that, so I would guess that the plant has survived at least 3 years outside. But we have an odd selection of bits and pieces that she planted (from a potted oak tree to a peach to an olive to cobnut to....) or acquired from goodness knows where - but I'm starting to learn and have managed to keep them all alive so far - even though I'm not sure what all of them are! We never had many indoor plants (she tended to forget to water them!) - although I did grow a couple of pineapples that fruited (took the tops off of pineapples from Sainsbury's) in the conservatory - so I would guess that she didn't know what it was either! She was a 'plant it and it has two chances' type gardener.

    UK - South Coast Retirement Campus (East)
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