Plants Flashcards
Nicotiana tabacum is grown commercially in many countries and its leaves are processed into which product?
TOBACCO
What is the alternative name of the Chinese gooseberry which is grown as a commercial crop in several countries including New Zealand?
KIWIFRUIT
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?
NARCISSUS
What is the common name of the nut-like seeds of the horse-chestnut tree?
CONKERS
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”?
SNOWDROP
Cavendish is the main commercial cultivar of which large herbaceous flowering plant in the genus Musa?
BANANA
Many species of which genus of flowering trees and shrubs native to Australia are known as gum trees?
EUCALYPTUS
Which hemiparasitic shrub (Viscum album) which grows on the stems of other trees has a significant role in European mythology legends and customs?
MISTLETOE
What species of tree is General Sherman located in California and by volume the largest known living single stem tree on Earth?
GIANT SEQUIOA (OR GIANT REDWOOD)
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”?
AVOCADO (OR ALLIGATOR PEAR)
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.
JOSHUA TREE
The monkey puzzle tree is native to which continent?
SOUTH AMERICA
Which genus of plants named after a 16th century German botanist has decorative flowers with a pendulous ‘teardrop’ shape that are pollinated by hummingbirds?
FUSCHIA
What name is given to a plant that lives for more than two years?
PERENNIAL
Which conifers in the genus Larix are deciduous trees that lose their leaves in the autumn?
LARCHES
The bark of which evergreen tree belonging to the family Lauracea is widely used as a spice in many dessert recipes?
CINNAMON
Which moorland plant (genus Pteridium) is the most common fern in the UK?
BRACKEN
Which tropical plant with edible fruit (Ananas comosus) is the most economically significant bromeliad?
PINEAPPLE
The H. Macrophylla and H. Serrata cultivars of which flowering plant produce blue flowers in acid soil and pink flowers in alkaline soil?
HYDRANGEA
What colour are the flowers of the poinsettia plant?
YELLOW
Which aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes is obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia?
FRANKINCENSE
Lady’s slipper fairy slipper tongue and bee are all members of which family of flowering plants which has over 20000 species?
ORCHID
Which conifer (Taxus baccata) is often found in churchyards and was used to make longbows?
(ENGLISH OR EUROPEAN) YEW
What is the common name of a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus?
OAK
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?
TITAN ARUM
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?
RAFFLESIA
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.
VALERIAN
Which large deciduous tree (Tectonagrandis) that occurs in mixed hardwood forests in southern Asia is valued for its durability and water resistance?
TEAK
What is the common name of the household indoor plants in the genus Saintpaulia that are native to Tanzania and Kenya?
AFRICAN VIOLETS
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?
ASPIDESTRA
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?
BOUGAINVILLEA
The mature fruit of which palm endemic to the Seychelles contains the largest seed in the plant kingdom?
COCO DE MER (LODOICEA)
Which cactus is well known for its psychoactive alkaloids particularly mescaline?
PEYOTE
What name used to refer to all land plants that are non-vascular plants i.e. The mosses hornworts and liverworts?
BRYOPHYTES
Members of which genus of South African flowering plants are also known as sugarbushes?
PROTEAS
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?
SCARLET PIMPERNEL
Onion garlic scallion shallot leek and chives are all members of which genus of flowering plants?
ALLIUM
Certain species of which large member of the grass family can grow 91cm in a day?
BAMBOO
Flowers in which genus of plants are commonly known as snapdragons or dragon flowers?
ANTIRRHINUM
Rhubarb leaves are poisonous due to the presence of which acid with the formula C2H2O4?
OXALIC ACID
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?
LONDON PLANE
Also known as the maidenhair tree which living fossil is classified in its own division and is native to China?
GINKGO
Which genus within the rose family includes the plums cherries peaches nectarines apricots and almonds?
PRUNUS
The globe artichoke is a variety of a species of which plant in the Cynareae tribe?
THISTLE
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?
RAGWORT
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?
VICTORIA AMAZONICA
The Venus flytrap is native only to subtropical wetlands in two states in the USA. Name either of the states.
NORTH CAROLINA OR SOUTH CAROLINA
Which family of flowering plants with over 30000 species is sometimes referred to as the daisy composite or sunflower family?
ASTERACEAE
Clematis is a genus of about 300 species within which family of plants?
BUTTERCUP (RANUNCULACEAE)
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.
MAGNOLIA
