Floral Word Play Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rose

There are over one hundred species of the beautiful rose in the world, and a staggering number of hybrids created from these. Paintings from ancient Egyptian tombs reveal that roses were cultivated even as far back as then, but undoubtedly they were sought by man far earlier than that. Roses are just so lovely and their appeal to the senses can swamp one with delight, waves of nostalgia, sometimes a little sorrow - and happiness.

Answer: Carnation

Good old Henry Ford (1863-1947) was the developer of the assembly line for quick manufacture of cheap, affordable, smelly, polluting, dangerous, convenient, loud, now overly-expensive, motor vehicles. Will history eventually see him as a hero or a villain, I wonder?

The beautiful carnation has been cultivated by man for approximately 2,000 years. Just as lovely as roses, they perhaps lack the true elegance of that gracious plant. In the language and history of flowers, carnations, which come in various colours, have many symbolisms. Red ones, for example, represent love and admiration, and also socialism (how insulting to associate a lovely bloom with grotty politics), purple represents capriciousness or sorrow, and white stands for purity. The delicate pink carnation has a lovely but sad association as well. It represents the tears of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, who, as she saw her son falling under the weight of the cross, cried heartbrokenly. As her tears fell to the ground, carnations sprang in their stead.

Answer: Canterbury bells

Thomas Becket (circa 1119-1170), the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by a group of over-enthusiastic knights who mistakenly decided Henry II's supposed exasperated cry of "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" was an order to do away with the fiery cleric.

Canterbury bells are delicate violet-hued plants that are shaped, as their name suggests, like tiny bells. Originating from the south of Europe, they are now found growing throughout most of Europe and have crossed the Atlantic to North America as well. Bees and butterflies love this little flower. In the language of plants, Canterbury bells stand for faith and constancy.

Answer: Busy Lizzie

There were two reigning queens of England with the name of Elizabeth. One was Elizabeth I (daughter of Henry VIII) who lived from 1533 until 1603. The other is (and still alive at the beginning of 2016) Queen Elizabeth II (daughter of George VI), who was born in 1926.

Busy Lizzie is the common name of the plant Impatiens walleriana. Springing from the east of Africa, this perennial plant can grow as high as twenty-four inches. Lizzie spreads her seeds everywhere when her ripe seedpod "explodes", sending their contents over quite a wide area. Both the single and the double Impatients produce a range of colourful flowers, but for some reason I dislike the single. The double Impatients flower, however, is really lovely and bears a resemblance to a rose.

Answer: Bleeding heart

A Myocordial infarction is, in the world of the layman, known as a heart attack. The bleeding heart plant, a common name applied to several long and rumbling Latin-named blooms, is a shrub-vine that produces various colours of dainty flowers shaped like hearts with tails.

They're quite lovely when seen gently blowing in a breeze, with rows of them looking rather like colourful Chinese lanterns. They are definitely not the most thoughtful gift to give to someone who'd just had a heart attack, however.

Answer: Backhousia

Back of the house staff in restaurants are those people who work in the areas not directly observed by customers. This includes the kitchen and all that entails, employees' restrooms and the manager's office where all the business side of the business is carried out.

The backhousia plant, which is native to the rainforest areas of Australia, comes in either a small shrub or a tree that can grow as tall as twenty-five metres. Both produce a delicate and aromatic flower with a white or yellowish tint.

Answer: Cornflower

Both wheat and corn are cereal and grain crops long since domesticated by man, and as such, have fed the world's growing populations for some thousands of years. The humble cornflower, which was once looked upon as a weed in cornfields, is known officially as Centaurea cyanus. It is often referred to as a bluebottle and a bachelor's buttons as well. This annual plant can grow as high as three feet, and produces flowers that are usually blue but which can come in a range of other colours as well, given the right conditions. Now considered an endangered species, steps are being made by the scientific community to save the cornflower from extinction.

The national flower of Estonia, where it symbolises their daily foods, the cornflower has long been associated with Germany as well. Where once it represented various aspects of royalty, today it is associated more with politics in that country. In France, it became a symbol of the close of the First World War (1914-1918) and the armistice. An old superstition has it that if a young man in love wore this flower, but it faded too quickly, then his love was not returned. In traditional medicines, it was used as a wash to treat conjunctivitis and tired eyes. Finally, this humble little bloom was the favourite of President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), so much so that when his son, John F. Kennedy Jnr (1960-1999) was married in 1996, he wore a cornflower in memory of his father.

Answer: Flame tip

When anyone is inhaling on a cigarette, the end of that tobacco stick glows bright red with muted flame. The flame tip plant is the common name of a flower known as Gloriosa, which is native to South Africa and Asia. Other common names include flame lily, glory lily and superb lily.

This perennial plant is toxic if consumed, and handling it can cause skin irritations in many people. Sounds as bad as a cigarette really. The flame tip is one of those showy, almost gaudy plants that are hard to ignore. I don't like them.

They're kind of vulgar and too in your face.

Answer: Jersey lily

In the various games of football (used here as the overall term for Aussie Rules, Rugby, Union, Soccer, etc., etc.), a jersey (shirt) is part of each player's uniform. These come in an amazing array of colours to reflect the thousands of different clubs associated with these games. They could be almost described as pretty, but one would never use that word with regard to any footballer, I can promise you. That would be asking for trouble.

The Jersey lily is a species of plant which isn't a lily at all, nor did it spring originally from the Jersey Island, so why it ended up with that name is anybody's guess. The flower itself is lovely though, and can present either as a demure little mistress of the garden or woods, or as a dramatic and striking queen of centre stage. The famous actress (and mistress of assorted men) Lillie or Lily Langtry (1853-1929), is a celebrity forever associated with this plant. She was known far and wide as the Jersey Lily, tribute to her beauty, personality and ability to portray differing emotions, much like the lovely bloom itself.

Answer: Peony

Jockeys are professional equestrians hired to ride steeds in sports such as horse racing, steeple chasing, camel racing and so on. Little squirts for the most part (it pays to be small in that game), these people are immensely skilled at controlling the powerful beasts underneath them as they pound the turf once the starting barriers spring open. "Annnnnddd they're racing!"

So of course a peony would be too good a pun to overlook when it comes to buying a gift for a jockey's child. Peonies are lovely, rather tall plants which look just a little like roses on a bad hair day. Producing a lovely assortment of delicate colours, peonies contain an astonishing range of compounds which are being used, or investigated, by scientists today to treat a range of medical conditions. Other facts about the peony include the following:

It is the traditional flower of China. In Japan's traditional medicines, its root was used to treat convulsions. Oddly enough, in that country, it is looked upon as a masculine, rather than feminine symbol, so is a frequent image used in tattoos there. And the Chinese parboil and sweeten its petals to make a delicate tasting tea, or flavour salads and lemonade with same.