The Men in Your Garden Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dahlia

National flower of Mexico, the plant was introduced into Europe in 1789 and was named by Abbe Antonio Jose Cavanilles, Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid after the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, who had died two years previously.

The dahlia is a family of tuberous herbaceous perennials with a number of different flower forms. Before the Spanish conquest, the Aztecs used the sweet potato-like tubers as a source of food. Diabetics were sometimes given a fruit sugar called Atlantic starch, derived from dahlia tubers, before the advent of insulin. The variety shown in the photo is the dahlia 'Whimsey'.

The children's author was Roald Dahl.

Answer: Macadamia

Native to Australia, there are now four recognised species of this genus. Commercially important for its seed, only two of the species produces nuts that can be eaten raw. Macadamia nuts are high in monosaturated fats and relatively low in protein when compared to the likes of almonds and cashews. They are also toxic to dogs.

John Macadam (1827-1865) was the Scottish-born Australian chemist and politician. He is unrelated to the Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam, famed for his road making technique and whose name is now associated with tarmacadam (or tarmac).

Answer: Hosta

Sometimes called plantain lilies or by their Japanese name giboshi, this genus is native to north-east Asia. The plants are toxic to cats, dogs and horses, however slugs, snails, rabbits and deer are quite partial to them. The toxicity is due to the saponins in them so in theory they could be used for making soap, however the amounts are too small.

Nicolaus Thomas Host (1771-1834) was the Austrian botanist honoured. He was also the personal physician of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II.

Answer: Banksia

There are around 170 species in the banksia genus, being Australian wild flowers and popular garden plants. The one shown is a woody shrub known as Banksia serrata (also known as old man banksia, saw banksia, saw-tooth banksia and red honeysuckle).

Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was the official botanist on the voyage and was wealthy enough to fund six others to accompany him, including Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander and Finnish naturalist Herman Spöring. The Solandra genus is named after the Swede.

Answer: Nicotiana

The photo shows N. glauca (known as tree tobacco). N. tabacum is the variety grown commercially for tobacco. Although not particularly known for its medicinal properties, the nicotine from the plant can be used as an insecticide and was also used as a poison in a famous murder case in 1850. A Belgian nobleman poisoned his brother-in-law for the inheritance but got guillotined instead after a chemist developed a technique to prove the presence of the alkaloid poison.

All the names listed are plants celebrating French botanists. Jean Nicot (1530-1600), the man whose name is associated with the plant (and the chemical nicotine), was also one the first to compile a French dictionary.

Answer: Boronia

The photo shows the flowers of Boronia ledifolia (also known as Sydney boronia, showy boronia or ledum boronia), one of some 90 species in the genus. The servant Francesco Borone worked for the botanist Sir James Smith. His thirst for knowledge and standard of work saw him elevated to become Smith's botanical assistant. He was on an expedition in 1794 with another botanist Dr Sibthorpe in Athens when he fell to his death apparently while sleep-walking. Smith vowed to honour him and did so by naming a genus after him in 1798.

A metalloid element shows properties of both metals and non-metals. Of the elements listed, boron and silicon fall into this category.

Answer: Gentiana

There about 400 species distributed mostly around the alpine areas of Europe, the Americas and Asia. There are some species in northern Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Gentiana have a long history of use in herbal medicine and some are used in a number of apéritifs, liqueurs, and tonics including Gentian, an Alpine distilled beverage which typically uses the root of G. lutea (the yellow gentian).

Lutius was the last Illyrian king, losing his kingdom to the Romans when he chose to change his allegiance to the Macedonians in exchange for the promise of 300 talents. Gentiana is the Greek and Latin name for the plant and was first used in the First century AD. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder records some of the medicinal properties that King Gentius is said to have discovered.

Answer: Honeysuckle

There are around 180 species of Lonicera, which are native to the northern hemisphere. Useful for covering walls and other unsightly man-made structures, some honeysuckles can be in the form of a shrub but are normally a twining bine. It also has a medicinal history. The one in the photo is L. tragophylla.

Answer: Robinia

Part of the Fabacea family (which includes legumes, peas and beans), the Robinia genus consists of deciduous trees native to North America and Mexico. The one shown in the photo is R. pseudoacacia (the black locust or false acacia).

Apart from the flowers, the plant is toxic. The flowers are used in teas and pancakes. The wood of the black locust is very hard, is ground-durable and so has many uses. It also makes good firewood.

Those remembered by the genus were French botanists Jean Robin (1550-1629) and his son Vespasien Robin (1579-1662). Jean Robin introduced the black locust to Europe.

Answer: Gunnera

Varying in size considerably, there are around 60 species. G. tinctoria (known as giant-rhubarb or Chilean rhubarb) is not related to rhubarb and is a major pest in New Zealand and Ireland where it was introduced.

The young plant is eaten in Chile and the root is the source of a black dye, hence the tinctoria part of the name. In some species the leafs can grow up to two metres wide and three metres long on stalks up to two and a half metres long.

Johan Ernst Gunnerus (1718-1773) was the Norwegian bishop with an interest in natural history.