Unique Australian Plants Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eucalyptus

Commonly referred to as gum trees in Australia, there are more than 700 different species of this tree which grow all over the continent. Before they produce their small seeds, they develop delicate fluffy blossoms such as the ones pictured, but unless you live here, these are hard to spot initially. Many of our flowering plants are almost shy in nature and prefer to hide behind their leaves. Yet they're so very pretty.

The eucalyptus is a fast growing tree. It is a good source of available fuel (especially for barbecues here), and is prized for the oil it produces, its ability to reduce salination in the soil, and its pulp from which rather fine paper is produced. Captain Cook's exploration of this continent in 1770 saw its seeds being taken back from here to England and eventually to other parts of the world as well. The oil this tree produces is used in the manufacture of insecticides, antiseptics and deodorisers, toothpastes, throat lozenges and decongestant. Its fruits are used to make a particularly tasty honey, dyes and fertiliser. One particularly fascinating skill this tree possesses is that its roots have the ability to draw up traces of gold. Early prospectors to Australia made full use of this gift when searching for large deposits of this precious metal.

Answer: Banksia

Banksias are part of the Proteaceae family of plants, and can range in size from only a few feet to more than ninety feet tall. The birds absolutely love this unusual looking plant, and fortunately we have some very lovely birds in our country. Watching them feed on the banksias is a real treat. Other of our creatures also feast on this important food chain plant, but most of them are rather shy and we seldom see them during daylight hours. These include honeyeaters, possums, little bats, and, during the daylight hours, our stingless bees. Australian native bees are harmless little creatures. The banksia, which looks a little like a gnawed cob of corn, comes in several different colours, but one rather odd trait of this plant is that the percentage of fruits developing from the flowers is quite low. Of all things, the best aid to assist this plant to bloom is a bushfire. The heat from the flames helps the seed to split open. The plant also regenerates remarkably quickly after the fire has passed.

Because of land clearing and development in populated areas of this country, the banksia is now listed as an endangered plant in those areas. Fortunately, most of our population lives along the coastal strips, but banksias aren't terribly fond of the salt air. They tend to grow in drier or rainforest areas of the land instead. Apart from the flowers, which are used in the florist business, the wood of the banksia can be used to make small containers and ornaments, or, if from a larger tree, can be utilised to make keels for small boats.

Answer: Acacia

There are over 1,300 species of the lovely wattle or acacia, with almost 1,000 of these native to Australia. The flowers, delicate balls of golden fluff, occur in numerous clumps along the twigs of its branches. These plants bloom all throughout our country in the winter months. It is a very strongly perfumed plant, to the delight of bees, but that same perfume gives many people, including yours truly, one heck of a migraine. Such is their proliferation throughout Australia, that the wattle, the golden wattle that is, is used as our national floral symbol.

In Asia, the young shoots of the wattle are used in soups, stir-fries, omelettes and the like. We tend not to eat wattle based products here though, except for honey, but utilise it for any number of other purposes. These include the manufacture of gum, its tannin extract, landscaping (a wattle plant waving in a gentle breeze is a delightful sight), perfumes (oh good heavens, no), timber (it makes lovely wooden furniture), pulp, and erosion control. Did you know that the wood from the acacia was used in the making of Noah's ark? And that those who practise herbal therapies make a potion from it that is said to cure rabies.

Answer: Kangaroo paw

Kangaroo paws are plants found, for the most part, in south-west of Western Australia. This hardy little plant is given its name because, up close, each individual petal on the flower looks remarkably like a claw on a kangaroo's foot. These are also covered with fine hair like substances as well. This perennial wild plant is known for its strong bird attraction qualities. It's a particularly favoured plant for five different honeyeaters. They love to bury their beaks down into the flowers.

Kangaroo paws come in colours ranging from yellow to red. The most popular of this species, also the state flower for Western Australia, comes in the dual colours of bright red and green. Many people tout the beauty of the paw, but this is one plant I can't take a liking to, no matter how it's presented. I think, sorry to say, that the poor little unloved thing is just plain ugly.

Answer: Bottlebrush

The bottlebrush was given its name, rather unsurprisingly, because of its similarity to a bottle cleaning instrument. This beautiful and delicate plant has to be inspected at close quarters to have a full appreciation of its loveliness. And the birds go absolutely wild about it when it is in bloom, particularly our lovely rosellas and parakeets. One sometimes wonder if they become a tiny bit intoxicated on its honey. They fly there soberly enough, but within several minutes of feasting on its nectars, they become very argumentative, will occasionally have a punch up, or start hanging upside down on its twigs squawking on top note.

At the end of each tiny fibre of the flower is another dot of colour. It's quite amazing. It can take the heaviest of pruning at any time of the year and will regenerate within a few months more prolific than ever. As far as size is concerned, there is the miniature bottlebrush which only grows approximately ninety inches, or beauties that can reach up to fifty feet in height.

Answer: Leptospermum

The leptospermum, also known as the lemon scented tea tree, belongs to our many smaller shrubs and trees. This lovely small flower, in bloom, comes in petals of white, pink and red. An interesting feature of Australian floral life is that when our shy flowers are not blossoming, the trees on which they live are all rather scraggly and unappealing looking - like a beautiful woman who's gone out without wearing her make-up or combing her hair.

Early settlers to our land used to make a herbal tea from the leaves of the lepostermum. This is very rich in vitamin C. According to Wikipedia, Captain Cook gave his sailors a brew or two of its leaves in order to prevent scurvy. Believe that if you like. He may have of course, but why risk poisoning your crew with an unknown plant? The leptospermum tolerates the frost or the drought well, makes a delicious honey and is an attractive plant when used in gardens. The bees, those little miracles of nature, also love it. What more could you ask?

Answer: Geraldton wax

How lovely is the Geraldton wax? It looks exactly as it is pictured in the accompanying photo, coming in shades that range from white to the richest purple. This plant, which is native to Western Australia, grows on a very small shrub. Like all our plants though, its true beauty is only revealed on a closer inspection.

Cultivated right throughout Australia these days, Geraldton wax is used primarily in the florist industry and in restful garden corners. It sets off more showier plants to perfection, like a dainty bridesmaid accompanying a Junoesque bride, and often outlasting that bloom by days. With a somewhat similar appearance to the plant of the lemon scented tea tree, the differences lie in the colours, the duration of the bloom when cut, and the size of the parent shrub. Don't make a brew from this beauty however! It's rather toxic to animals and humans.

Answer: Hakea

Today, New Zealand Maoris perform a traditional and rather exciting dance called a haka that is based on one of their old war dances. In Australia, however, the hakea belongs to a species of 150 small shrubs and trees found right throughout the country, and particularly so in Western Australia. WA, because of its size and relatively small distribution of population, is a botanist's mecca. So many of its native plants there remain undamaged and untouched by man. The lovely flower the hakea produces is a little like a pompom. It comes in dazzling shades of red, yellow, pink, purple, white and even a soft blue.

Usually referred to as the red poker in Western Australia, the hakea is mostly grown as an ornamental plant in populated areas of the country. It can reach as tall as twenty feet, but that's more the exception than the rule. A good pruning will stop the plant from becoming straggly. Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy its exotic beauty.

Answer: Wallaby grass

Wallaby grass is one of 28 different species found in Australia, and in our close neighbours, New Guinea and New Zealand. Unappreciated and unobtrusive out in the wild, the wallaby grass goes almost unnoticed. It develops a small mauve flower on each tip that can barely be seen with the naked eye, and will thrive in all kinds of different climates. Why it has been given the name wallaby grass in unknown, but possibly it is because up close, like the kangaroo paw, this plant has a look similar to it of the paws of that little creature.

In more recent years in Australia, the wallaby grass has come to be appreciated as a drought resistant plant suitable for growing lawns, ones that will remain green all summer long no matter how hard the sun beats down upon them. Even better, for those who hate the chore of mowing, those lawns will only need mowing a few times a year to maintain a tidy appearance. Aboriginal people, when the grass grew long in its natural state, used the leaves and steams to make string and small dilly bags.

Answer: Lemon myrtle

I've kept the best photo until last as it also features one of our lovely birds, the rainbow lorikeet. We're very lucky in this country with our beautiful birds and unique, though demure, plants. The refreshingly scented lemon myrtle is a plant found in the central and south eastern areas of Queensland, Australia. That scent though comes from the leaves when crushed, rather than the flowers produced by the gracious tree on which they bloom.

The oil that is produced from this tree is used in many products requiring that base. These include cleaning products, antiseptics, disinfectants, soaps, shampoos, creams. It is also used to treat skin lesions and fungi. Lemon flavoured flakes manufactured from this plant are utilised to make shortbread, pasta, flavouring for cooked fish, tea, cheesecake, ice-cream and sorbet. The lemon myrtle is a true gift, healing, beautiful, lovely to look at, and bee and bird attracting.