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UK Botany Trivia

UK Botany Trivia Quizzes

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Fun Trivia
Have a ramble around the quizzes in this category to learn about some of the plants, flowers and trees which grow in the United Kingdom.
5 UK Botany quizzes and 75 UK Botany trivia questions.
1.
Foraging Flora
  Foraging Flora   great trivia quiz  
Photo Quiz
 10 Qns
Britain's edible wild plants, berries and nuts are available for the taking as long as you have suitable permission from the landowner. Let us find out more about the plants themselves.
Average, 10 Qns, Plodd, Jul 20 22
Average
Plodd
Jul 20 22
601 plays
2.
  Trees in the British Isles    
Multiple Choice
 25 Qns
Facts about the trees we are surrounded by. Can you spot which species match which fact?
Average, 25 Qns, Flapjack44, Jul 10 24
Average
Flapjack44
Jul 10 24
2229 plays
3.
  Gold Guides: British Wild Flowers I    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is a pretty straightforward quiz. I'll give you a Latin name and description and you tell me the common name. Let's go:-
Average, 10 Qns, mikew41, Apr 13 09
Average
mikew41
1340 plays
4.
  British Flowers: General Facts    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
First quiz of my three quiz set on the wild flowers of the British Isles. How much do you know about the uses and nicknames, past and present, of our native flora?
Tough, 15 Qns, Flapjack44, Nov 10 16
Tough
Flapjack44
596 plays
5.
  British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
Second quiz of my three quiz set on the wild flowers of the British Isles. How much do you know about the historical (and often misplaced) uses of our native flora relating to wellbeing and medicine?
Tough, 15 Qns, Flapjack44, Dec 07 06
Tough
Flapjack44
594 plays

UK Botany Trivia Questions
1. Silene dioica. This is a medium sized hairy perennial. The leaves are oval and pointed, with 5 petaled pink flowers in May and June. Woodland edges and hedgerows are its favourite location.

From Quiz Gold Guides: British Wild Flowers I

Answer: red campion

The taxonomic name comes from Silenus, the Greek god of the woodlands and dioica meaning "two houses". This refers to the fact that each plant carries either male or female flowers only.

2. Which flower gets its name from the smell given off when it is uprooted?

From Quiz British Flowers: General Facts

Answer: Common Fumitory

'Fumitory' comes from the medieval Latin word meaning 'smoke of the earth'. Also, if the sap of the plant gets into the eyes they will water as though affected by smoke.

3. What rare woodland member of the buttercup family was used as a violent purgative for people with worms, the use of which was abandoned when it was noticed that more often than not, the cure killed the patient?

From Quiz British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses

Answer: Stinking Hellebore

It was also used for treating boils and killed a few more patients that way. Stinking Hellebore is also notable for the fact that its seeds are spread by snails.

4. Considered holy with powers of purification (with the ability to drive out badness), the Druids named one of their months after it.

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: Silver Birch

Hence 'birching' being used as a method of discipline in public schools. Despite its frail appearance, the Silver Birch is actually one of our most hardy trees.

5. Digitalis purpurea. Growing up to three metres tall, this distinctive biennial has a rosette of broad mid-green leaves and spikes of tubular pink to purple flower between June and September.

From Quiz Gold Guides: British Wild Flowers I

Answer: common foxglove

Digitalis means "finger like" refering to the flowers. All parts of the plants are extremely poisonous, but it is also the source of the powerful family of heart drugs called digitoxins. For this reason they are also known as "dead mans bells".

6. What plant is part of a trick played by schoolchildren where the punchline is 'You broke your Mother's heart!'?

From Quiz British Flowers: General Facts

Answer: Shepherd's Purse

The child would first be asked to pick the seed pod off of the stem (which is heart shaped) and then when it bursts open, the punchline is shouted. The name of Shepherd's Purse came from the shape of the seed pod which resembles the wallets used by shepherds to carry their lunches.

7. The trembling of the leaves of this tree was said to represent grief or guilt, with some local lore claiming the guilt stemmed from the wood of the tree being used to form Christ's cross.

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: Aspen

The trembling is actually caused by the extremely flattened long leaf stalks.

8. Primula veris. This species is a low growing perennial which forms a rosette of leaves from which up to 30 deep yellow flowers emerge on a single stalk. It is found in more open locations than its cousin the primrose.

From Quiz Gold Guides: British Wild Flowers I

Answer: cowslip

Cowslips have a wide range of medicinal uses including a diuretic, expectorant for colds and a headache treatment. It also makes a very palatable wine.

9. The common name of this yellow flowered plant derives from the ancient Greek word meaning 'antidote to poisonous bites' a job for which it is highly effective.

From Quiz British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses

Answer: Treacle Mustard

It is particularly effective against bites (both insect and animal) when made into Venice Treacle, a concoction involving a number of other herbs.

10. Which small tree (also a large shrub) grows sloe berries?

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: Blackthorn

Sloes can be made into jam, wine and also used as a flavouring in gin. The sloe was probably one of the forerunners of damsons and other domestic plums.

11. Which five petalled yellow flower has genuine aniseptic powers when laid over wounds?

From Quiz British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses

Answer: Tutsan

In fact the name Tutsan is a corruption of the Anglo Norman tutsaine (toute-saine in modern French) which when translated means all-healthy.

12. This tree was considered to harbour evil spirits and gave rise to malign spirit fables such as the Erlkonig of German legend.

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: Common Alder

The reputation for evil stemmed from the fact that the cut wood takes on a blood orange hue.

13. Cypripedium calceolus. Found mainly on limestone grasslands, this plant has broad, ribbed lanceolate leaves above which grow large purple petaled flowers with a yellow hollow lip.

From Quiz Gold Guides: British Wild Flowers I

Answer: lady's slipper orchid

This species is one of the rarest and most stunningly beautiful plants in the UK. While several similar genera are more common across the country, this species is now found at just a single carefully guarded location in Yorkshire.

14. To which fruit does the folklore refer, when it warns against eating it after Michaelmas (29 September) because the Devil spits on it?

From Quiz British Flowers: General Facts

Answer: Blackberry

The folklore is not wholly without foundation. The spit comes from the flesh fly which is around at that time, and dribbles on the berries in order to suck up the juices.

15. Which plant is commonly used in history and lore to raise ghosts, exorcise spirits and lift curses?

From Quiz British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses

Answer: St John's Wort

One story goes that the bedroom of the composer Henry Lawes was plagued by a ghost which resisted all attempts at exorcism. Eventually a doctor, called in to help the ailing and exhausted Lawes, put a bunch of St John's Wort under the pillows on the bed and the ghost was seen no more!

16. The name of this tree is said to stem from the tough wood.

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: Hornbeam

'Horn' meaning hard and 'beam' meaning tree in Old English. The wood is consequently often used for butchers blocks, mallets, balls and skittles.

17. Campanula rotundifolia. A delicate short perennial growing on dry grasslands throughout the UK, with delicate blue bell shaped flowers borne on thin stalks from July to October.

From Quiz Gold Guides: British Wild Flowers I

Answer: harebell

The plant is named harebell from the belief that the juices of the plant could turn witches into hares so they could run away from danger. It is the official flower of County Antrim in Northern Ireland.

18. Which bold pink flower was quick to colonise bomb sites during World War One?

From Quiz British Flowers: General Facts

Answer: Rosebay Willowherb

It thrives on any wasteland but particularly those that have been cleared by fire... hence one of its alternative names is 'Fireweed'.

19. Which pink flowered plant was used as an anti-aphrodisiac and hangover cure?

From Quiz British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses

Answer: Common Mallow

This relative of the hollyhock and hibiscus was evidently considered to be rather a cure-all and was also used to ward of aching, draw out the poison in wasp stings and soothe cuts.

20. Fagus sylvatica refers to which tree?

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: Common Beech & Beech & European beech

At Meikleour, near Perth, a 200 year old Beech hedge has reached 30 metres high and 550 metres long.

21. Which tree was decimated by a disease which entered the UK in 1967?

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: English Elm & Elm

The earlier desire for large numbers of elms meant many were grown using only a few genetic strains. This made the tree peculiarly vulnerable to the Dutch elm disease onslaught and 12 million English elms died as a consequence.

22. Meconopsis cambrica. This is a medium, slightly hairy perennial with deeply lobed leaves and short hairy stalks which are topped by glossy yellow flowers from June to August. It enjoys good moisture and tends to frequent shady and rocky places.

From Quiz Gold Guides: British Wild Flowers I

Answer: Welsh poppy

The Welsh poppy is the only species of the genus Meconopsis native to Europe. It is the logo of the Welsh political party "Plaid Cymru".

23. A potion made from this plant was used in judicial executions in ancient Greece.

From Quiz British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses

Answer: Hemlock

The most famous execution using the extremely poisonous Hemlock being that of Socrates who was accused of 'corruption of the young' and 'neglect of the Gods whom the city worships and the practice of religious novelties'.

24. Trifolium repens. This important fodder crop is a creeping hairless perennial which roots at the leaf nodes. Long stalked globular white flower heads are borne all summer long. If you find yourself in a field of this stuff, the smell is heavenly!

From Quiz Gold Guides: British Wild Flowers I

Answer: white clover

White clover is an important pasture crop as it can tolerate close mowing and fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere. It is also very high in protein and is a major forage crop for livestock. Clover honey is delicious.

25. Which plant was referred to by Sir Percy Blakeney and also comes in pink, white, lilac and blue colours?

From Quiz British Flowers: General Facts

Answer: Scarlet Pimpernel

Sir Percy Blakeney was of course, the hero in the novel The Scarlet Pimpernel written by Baroness Orczy. He described the plant as a 'humble English wayside flower'.

26. What member of the dock family was thought to retard the growth of children and was described by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream as 'hindering'?

From Quiz British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses

Answer: Knotgrass

The Latin name polygonum stems from the Greek for 'many knees'.

27. The twigs of this tree break and float downstream, taking root further along the waterway.

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: Crack Willow

The Willow also uses seeds to propagate.

28. Which five petalled blue-purple flower was worn as a crown on the heads of people about to be executed?

From Quiz British Flowers: General Facts

Answer: Lesser Periwinkle

This evergreen plant was considered to be a symbol of immortality. Culpeper even recommended it as a fertility aid!

29. Which member of the forget-me-not family was used in medieval times to set bones in the manner of plaster of Paris?

From Quiz British Flowers: Historical Medicinal Uses

Answer: Common Comfrey

The root of Common Comfrey is grated, packed around the broken limb and left to set hard. Other common names are Knitbone and Boneset. 'Comfrey' itself comes from the Latin 'conferre' meaning 'to bring together'.

30. This tree is Europe's largest Maple.

From Quiz Trees in the British Isles

Answer: Sycamore Maple

The Sycamore can grow to 35 metres and can live to 200 years, although it is commercially viable from 60 years.

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