Plants

Question 1

Nicotiana tabacum is grown commercially in many countries and its leaves are processed into which product?

Answer 1

TOBACCO

Question 2

What is the alternative name of the Chinese gooseberry which is grown as a commercial crop in several countries including New Zealand?

Answer 2

KIWIFRUIT

Question 3

The name of which genus of plants commonly known as the daffodil may be linked to the myth of a hunter who became so obsessed with his own reflection in water that he drowned?

Answer 3

NARCISSUS

Question 4

What is the common name of the nut-like seeds of the horse-chestnut tree?

Answer 4

CONKERS

Question 5

One of the first bulbs to bloom in spring which garden flower (Galanthus nivalus) is known as the “fair maid of February” and “Candlemass bells”?

Answer 5

SNOWDROP

Question 6

Cavendish is the main commercial cultivar of which large herbaceous flowering plant in the genus Musa?

Answer 6

BANANA

Question 7

Many species of which genus of flowering trees and shrubs native to Australia are known as gum trees?

Answer 7

EUCALYPTUS

Question 8

Which hemiparasitic shrub (Viscum album) which grows on the stems of other trees has a significant role in European mythology legends and customs?

Answer 8

MISTLETOE

Question 9

What species of tree is General Sherman located in California and by volume the largest known living single stem tree on Earth?

Answer 9

GIANT SEQUIOA (OR GIANT REDWOOD)

Question 10

The name of which tree (Persea americana) native to Mexico refers to the tree’s fruit and is derived from a Nahuatl word meaning “testicle”?

Answer 10

AVOCADO (OR ALLIGATOR PEAR)

Question 11

What is the common name of the tree Yucca brevifolia which is native to the Mojave Desert? The plant can be seen on the artwork of a 1987 album of the same name.

Answer 11

JOSHUA TREE

Question 12

The monkey puzzle tree is native to which continent?

Answer 12

SOUTH AMERICA

Question 13

Which genus of plants named after a 16th century German botanist has decorative flowers with a pendulous ‘teardrop’ shape that are pollinated by hummingbirds?

Answer 13

FUSCHIA

Question 14

What name is given to a plant that lives for more than two years?

Answer 14

PERENNIAL

Question 15

Which conifers in the genus Larix are deciduous trees that lose their leaves in the autumn?

Answer 15

LARCHES

Question 16

The bark of which evergreen tree belonging to the family Lauracea is widely used as a spice in many dessert recipes?

Answer 16

CINNAMON

Question 17

Which moorland plant (genus Pteridium) is the most common fern in the UK?

Answer 17

BRACKEN

Question 18

Which tropical plant with edible fruit (Ananas comosus) is the most economically significant bromeliad?

Answer 18

PINEAPPLE

Question 19

The H. Macrophylla and H. Serrata cultivars of which flowering plant produce blue flowers in acid soil and pink flowers in alkaline soil?

Answer 19

HYDRANGEA

Question 20

What colour are the flowers of the poinsettia plant?

Answer 20

YELLOW

Question 21

Which aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes is obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia?

Answer 21

FRANKINCENSE

Question 22

Lady’s slipper fairy slipper tongue and bee are all members of which family of flowering plants which has over 20000 species?

Answer 22

ORCHID

Question 23

Which conifer (Taxus baccata) is often found in churchyards and was used to make longbows?

Answer 23

(ENGLISH OR EUROPEAN) YEW

Question 24

What is the common name of a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus?

Answer 24

OAK

Question 25

Which flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world is also known as the corpse flower as it smells like a rotting animal?

Answer 25

TITAN ARUM

Question 26

Which genus of flowering plants named after a British statesman has the largest single flower of any flowering plant and is also known as the corpse flower as it smells like a rotting animal?

Answer 26

RAFFLESIA

Question 27

Flower extracts of which herb with pink or white flowers were used as a perfume in the 16th century? Today it is a popular herbal medicine used for treating insomnia.

Answer 27

VALERIAN

Question 28

Which large deciduous tree (Tectona grandis) that occurs in mixed hardwood forests in southern Asia is valued for its durability and water resistance?

Answer 28

TEAK

Question 29

What is the common name of the household indoor plants in the genus Saintpaulia that are native to Tanzania and Kenya?

Answer 29

AFRICAN VIOLETS

Question 30

Known as the cast-iron plant because it is tolerant of neglect which houseplant appears in the title of a novel by George Orwell and a wartime classic sung by Gracie Fields?

Answer 30

ASPIDESTRA

Question 31

Which genus of South American climbing shrubs with colorful bracts is named after a French admiral and explorer who also has an island in the South Pacific Ocean named after him?

Answer 31

BOUGAINVILLEA

Question 32

The mature fruit of which palm endemic to the Seychelles contains the largest seed in the plant kingdom?

Answer 32

COCO DE MER (LODOICEA)

Question 33

Which cactus is well known for its psychoactive alkaloids particularly mescaline?

Answer 33

PEYOTE

Question 34

What name used to refer to all land plants that are non-vascular plants i.e. The mosses hornworts and liverworts?

Answer 34

BRYOPHYTES

Question 35

Members of which genus of South African flowering plants are also known as sugarbushes?

Answer 35

PROTEAS

Question 36

Which weed (Anagallis arvensis) whose flowers only open when the sun shines is also known as poor man's weather-glass or shepherd's clock?

Answer 36

SCARLET PIMPERNEL

Question 37

Onion garlic scallion shallot leek and chives are all members of which genus of flowering plants?

Answer 37

ALLIUM

Question 38

Certain species of which large member of the grass family can grow 91 cm in a day?

Answer 38

BAMBOO

Question 39

Flowers in which genus of plants are commonly known as snapdragons or dragon flowers?

Answer 39

ANTIRRHINUM

Question 40

Rhubarb leaves are poisonous due to the presence of which acid with the formula C2H2O4?

Answer 40

OXALIC ACID

Question 41

Which tree which is often found in urban areas as it is very tolerant of atmospheric pollution is thought to be a hybrid of the American sycamore and another tree in the same genus?

Answer 41

LONDON PLANE

Question 42

Also known as the maidenhair tree which living fossil is classified in its own division and is native to China?

Answer 42

GINKGO

Question 43

Which genus within the rose family includes the plums cherries peaches nectarines apricots and almonds?

Answer 43

PRUNUS

Question 44

The globe artichoke is a variety of a species of which plant in the Cynareae tribe?

Answer 44

THISTLE

Question 45

Which common wild flower (Jacobaea vulgaris) best known as the food of caterpillars of the cinnabar moth contains many different alkaloids making it poisonous to certain animals?

Answer 45

RAGWORT

Question 46

Named after a queen and the river to which it is native what is the largest water lily in the world which has leaves of up to 3 m in diameter?

Answer 46

VICTORIA AMAZONICA

Question 47

The Venus flytrap is native only to subtropical wetlands in two states in the USA. Name either of the states.

Answer 47

NORTH CAROLINA OR SOUTH CAROLINA

Question 48

Which family of flowering plants with over 30000 species is sometimes referred to as the daisy composite or sunflower family?

Answer 48

ASTERACEAE

Question 49

Clematis is a genus of about 300 species within which family of plants?

Answer 49

BUTTERCUP (RANUNCULACEAE)

Question 50

Which ancient genus of over 200 plant species is named after a French botanist who was the first to publish the concept of plant families as they are understood today? Fossilised specimens have been found dating to 20 million years ago.

Answer 50

MAGNOLIA