Basic Botany at Herbie's Herbal Shop Quiz

Answer: bark

Many cultures have traditionally used cinnamon bark to relieve gastrointestinal problems. Generally the inner bark is used. Ground into a powder, it also makes a delicious spice on French toast!

Answer: flowers

The corolla refers to the petals and the calyx refers to the green, leaflike things that enclose the petals. The reproductive organs would be the stamens (male) and the carpels (female).

Pot marigold is Calendula oficinalis. Made into a compound or cream, naturopaths may suggest the flowers for minor burns, diaper rash, eczema or bee stings. A tincture is used internally for indigestion and externally for earaches. Supposedly an infusion of the flowers is also good for fever.

Answer: honey

The honeybee (genus Apis) consumes nectar found in flowers. She mixes the nectar with her salivary enzymes, and then back at the beehive she regurgitates it into honey. Sounds awful but tastes wonderful. Honey's acidity gives it antimicrobial properties. Some sources have suggested that as honey has antiseptic properties it can even treat minor scrapes and burns. The polyphenols in honey are antioxidants which reduce free radicals in the body, which may in turn reduce your risk for cancer and heart disease.

Pollen has medicinal use, too, but it's not a liquid! Nectar is what the plant provides, not what the insect produces.

Answer: rhizome

A well-known remedy for nausea is the rhizome of ginger, sometimes referred to as ginger root, although not correctly. The part you see in the shops is really a stem that grows underground and has roots that grow on it (adventitious roots) and also shoots that grow out sideways (lateral shoots). This is also the part that is pulverized for use in cooking.

Answer: root

Roots bring hydration and nutrition to plants. The root of narrow-leaf coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia) was historically a part of Native American medicine and adopted by European colonizers. The active components are the roots' polysaccharides, alkylamides, and cichoric acid, which protects collagen from damage due to free radicals.

It became popular as a cold remedy in the U.S. and in Europe in 1930s (though I believe they used purple coneflower, or Echinacea purpurea in Europe). The efficacy of this remedy is disputed, but it certainly seems to do no harm.

Answer: legume

Legumes have dehiscent pods, meaning they split upon maturity, and their root nodules contain symbiotic bacteria able to fix nitrogen. Unfortunately, when kudzu was brought to the USA from Japan for this purpose, it became an invasive species. Hard to believe that this ivy-looking plant which covers trees like a blanket is in the same category as peanuts, lentils, peas, and soybeans! The Chinese have traditionally used kudzu as a remedy for alcoholism and hangovers, which may be what inspired the USDA to investigate.

Answer: seeds

Seeds are the product of the ripened ovule ("small egg"), after fertilization. Think of them as little embryos and perhaps a bit of food (endosperm) in a a seed coat.

If you use flaxseed, a/k/a linseed, as a laxative, please take plenty of water;
we don't want a blockage! You may want to grind the seed into flaxmeal (or buy it ready-made) because it can be difficult to chew thoroughly and digest properly.

The oil has lignans, but no fiber, and it is not the unit of reproduction; the seed is. Many vegans take oil from flaxseed instead of salmon oil to get omega-3 fatty acids. Sesame and pumpkin seeds also contain lignans.

Answer: leaves

The main organs of photosynthesis (making food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide) and transpiration (release of water vapor) are the leaves, of course. The chloroplasts in the leaves contain chlorophyll, vital to the capture the sun's energy. An important by-product of photosynthesis is oxygen, needed for most living things on Earth (including the plants themselves).

Feverfew as a remedy for migraines was first documented the first century A.D. by the Greek herbalist Dioscorides.

Answer: apple tree

Coffee "beans" are also drupes, as are pistachio "nuts", not to mention cherries, apricots, mangoes, jujubes, and nectarines. A drupe is any fruit with a shell (a pit or stone) made from the flower's ovary wall, that contains a seed (kernel) and is surrounded by yummy flesh (mesocarp) and skin (exocarp).

Apples and pears are pomaceous fruit, which means they have a core (fused carpels) instead of a stone or pit. Carpels are are the female reproductive organs in plants.

Regarding the coconut... The theory is that the medium-chain triglycerides in coconut oil are less likely to end up as stored fat (adipose tissue) than the long-chain triglycerides found in other vegetable oils.

Answer: bulb

Garlic, or Allium sativum, has antibiotic and antifungal properties and yields various cardiovascular effects, such as dilation of blood vessels. It is also a deliciously pungent seasoning that mellows with cooking. Onions, shallots, and tulips also grow from bulbs.