[Hilary]

Solanum or pepper?
Visiting a friend this week and admiring a narrow border of plants
I said
"Ah, a Solanum", { I need  a photo of a Solanum to accompany a Christmas stamp}
my friend said
"No it's our pepper plant we used to put it in food until a friend told us not to "

So can anyone put a name to it please?

[Umbrian]

Doesn't look like anything I would want to eat Hilary.....glad your friends have been warned!

[Fermi]

Hi Hilary,
Solanum is the botanical name for the genus which includes the "capsicums" (which the Americans call "peppers") and chilies.
Your friends' plant looks like a solanum and probably a form of chilie but whether it is poisonous (another solanum is "Deadly Nightshade"!) would be debatable since your friends are still alive!
However all members of the genus contain solanine a poison - which is why you should never eat green potatoes because the greening indicates that the poison has become "active". I once heard about a breeding programme for potatoes which resulted in a great looking potato but it tested very high in solanine - enough to kill a horse! That's why I would be wary of eating potatoes grown from the actual seeds produced in those berries the plants sometimes bear at the end of summer.
cheers
fermi

[Hilary]

Thanks for the information

[oron peri]

Hillary, the right name for your plant is Capsicum frutescens  'Wiri Wiri'

[Hilary]

Many thanks.
I will let my friend know so that she can read all about it on her computer