Bateman Books spokeswoman Lise Clayton said the author noticed the inaccuracy while working on a separate piece about edible flowers and alerted the publishing house immediately.

Customers are being informed of the blunder while the corrected books are resupplied, a process expected to take between a week and 10 days.

“But we really want to get the message out there to families who have already purchased the book. We encourage them to turn to p46 and cross out the words ‘and vegetables’ with a thick marker,” Clare said.

While the flowers of beans, peas, zucchini, salad greens and brassicas can be eaten, nightshade family flora are not edible, including the flowers of potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, aubergines and chillies.

Toxic flowers such as those from potatoes usually taste “incredibly hot, astringent and bitter”, meaning tamariki are unlikely to continue eating them, but Clare said “children should always check with an adult that a plant from the garden is edible before consuming any part of it”.