Millions of Britons can't distinguish between common fruit and vegetables - and some are trickier than you think.

Only 51 per cent think a tomato is a fruit, while 99 per cent incorrectly identify peas in a pod as veg.

It's a fruit - not a veg (Alamy)

Do you know your potatoes from your pears and your raspberries from your radishes?

Widespread ignorance of the difference between fruit and vegetables has been revealed by new research.

Mistaking cucumbers, avocados and courgettes for vegetables, which are technically fruit as they have seeds, may be forgivable.

However, just 51 per cent of the nation correctly identified a tomato as a fruit, while 91 per cent believed a pepper was a vegetable.

The state of the nation's legume literacy faired worse elsewhere. Just one per cent correctly identified peas in the pods as a fruit, while 97 per cent got it wrong on olives and aubergines, classifying them as veg.

Just 14 per cent of the nation knows courgettes are fruit while 93 per cent think pumpkins are vegetables.

Just four per cent of those polled knew butternut squash is a fruit with 34 per cent correctly identifying a cucumber as a fruit.

Some 480 adults took part in the study carried out for GardeningExpress.co.uk, and gave the reason for their confusion as the fact these fruits are often served with savoury meals.

One respondent said: “Everyone knows tomatoes are fruit but some of the others on the list were really tricky.

“I always assumed a pea was a veggie but when you think about it, you grow pea plants from a dried pea which is the seed, so they have to be a fruit. I get why so many people are confused though.”

A spokesperson for GardeningExpress.co.uk, said: “The simplest way to identify which is a fruit and which is a vegetable is that fruit has seeds.

“So, in a cucumber the seeds run through the middle of the plant. In an avocado or olive, the seed is the stone at the centre.”