A tomato is a common British wildflower.

That is the shocking result of a poll which quizzed Kent primary school children about nature.

In fact the study, by Robinsons be Natural, revealed the county's youngsters were more likely to know who David Beckham was than to be able to identify a daffodil.

Kent primary school children could list almost four times as many celebrities as they could wildflowers, birds and wild animals, it was revealed.

The research, which sought to uncover how much children know about nature, also found that 13 per cent of children are not aware that a tadpole develops into a frog in later life.

When asked to identify celebrities, children aged 6-11 years from Kent could list on average eight celebs with pop sensation, Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) as the number one pick, followed closely by David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Zach Efron from High School Musical.

Other popular picks for girls included Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue, whilst boys reeled off famous faces such as Steven Gerrard, Simon Cowell and Michael Jackson.

However, when asked to focus on British countryside, children could only name on average two wild flowers, three wild animals and four garden birds.

TV presenter Michaela Strachan said: “It is saddening, but not surprising that children know so little about the British countryside.

"I do believe that parents want to turn the tide and get their kids outdoors more to learn about British wildlife together. Robinsons Be Natural has produced these brilliant interactive videos which can be used as a great starting point for getting the whole family back to nature.”

Shock facts include:

• A quarter of children in Kent could not name any wild flowers
• 17 per cent of Kent children could not list any wild animals in the UK countryside.
• One child listed the tomato as a common British wildflower