My TU-cents on the TULIP. Trivia Quiz

Answer: Daffodils

Classifications originally included some vegetables, but with new, more modern classification systems en vogue now, the Liliaceae genus is limited to lilies and tulips, among a small handful of other lesser-known varieties.

Answer: South Central Asia (Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan)

Historians generally believe that the Turks were the ones who sent the tulip on with Western European explorers, sometime in the 1500's. But evidence predominantly suggests the tulip originated in this southern region of Asia.

Answer: A Whole Number

With so many species of tulip, there is no fixed number of leaves. Some species have up to twelve leaves. But it is safe to say that tulips cannot grow half leaves. Kind of like you can't dig half a hole. So, it will always be a whole number of leaves.

Answer: Bulbs

Bulbs are formed on the flower where the seeds would normally form. These tiny baby bulbs are called bulbils. If they fall off, it will take some time, but the bulbils mature and grow new plants.

Answer: The Netherlands

This isn't even close. The Netherlands, or Holland, produces 3 billion tulip bulbs every year. Many of the tulip festivals in the United States import all their tulip bulbs from The Netherlands every year. Pella's Tulip Festival brags about their 300,000 tulips in full bloom every year, but a predominant number did not come from the U.S. They are from Holland.

Answer: False

Typically they have only one. But some species have two, and some have up to four flowers on one stem.

Answer: Mosaic

The Mosaic virus, when first infesting tulips, created strikingly beautiful color patterns on the tulip, which made them seem rare. People who could afford them threw ridiculous amounts of money toward a single bulb. The problem caused is that with the virus, the tulip in a matter of years would no longer bloom.

Today the Mosaic virus is all but eradicated. With improvements in genetic engineering, we are able to create the same styles without introducing the flower to its untimely death.

Answer: Tiny Tim

Johnny knew gold when he saw it. While not the most talented performer ever to grace Carson's stage, you just couldn't look away from Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim also got married to "Miss Vicki" on "The Tonight Show", in front of a late-night TV audience of 40 million people, numbers 30% larger than the 2009 finale of "American Idol".

Answer: Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre's story tells of a 100,000-guilder prize for the first black tulip. A genetic black tulip is an impossible task.

Answer: Parkinson's Disease

The tulip is the official symbol of the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. The foundation adopted the tulip as their symbol in 1980. A Dutch horticulturalist named a species of tulip after Dr. James Parkinson in honor of his work on the disease, and so it made sense that tulip would continue to be associated with the disease and the foundation.