Dear Readers, you might recognise these photos from my quiz a few weeks ago, but this week I want to intrigue you with some trivia about each plant. Can you match the trivia to the photo?
As usual, you’ll have until 5 p.m. UK time on Friday 4th March to get your answers in the comments – I’ll ‘disappear’ them as soon as I see them. Answers will be published on Saturday 5th March and, unlike for the past two weeks, I’ll actually attempt to get the scores in the post as well.
All you have to do is match the fact to the photo, and it’s job done! So if you think the Spring Crocus was Wordsworth’s favourite flower, your answer is A) 1.
Onwards!
Facts
A. Which of these spring ephemerals was Wordsworth’s favourite plant?
B. The species name of which plant means ‘unlettered’, to distinguish it from the hyacinth which is said to have the letters ‘AI’ inscribed on its petals?
C. Which plant is said to spring from cowpats and to smell slightly of apricots?
D. Which plant has leaves that fold up when it rains?
E. The name of which plant denotes an inferior species?
F. Which plant is called ‘The Flower of Death’ by the Chinese because of its pale, ghostly appearance?
G. Avid collectors of which plant are known as galanthophiles?
H. Which plant is also known as the Loddon Lily?
I. Which plant is supposed to have arisen from the body of a young man accidentally slain by a discus?
J. The genus name for which plant means ‘to injure or to harm’, referring to the poisonous nature of some members of the genus?
K. Which plant was long thought to be a hybrid of the primrose and the cowslip, until this was disproved by Henry Doubleday, one of the pioneers of the organic movement?
L. Which plant, also known as ‘choirboys’, is said to only grow where the blood of the ancient Romans has been spilled?
1) Spring crocus (Crocus vernus)
2) Squill (Scilla siberica)
3) Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)
4) Oxlip (Primula elatior)
5) Spring snowflake (Leucojum vernum)
6) Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)
7) Lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)
8) English Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)
9) Common Dog Violet (Viola riviniana)
10) Cowslip (Primula veris)
11) Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)
12) Wood anemone (Anemone nemerosa)
Photo Credits
Photo One by Franz Xaver, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Two by Evelyn Simak from https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6419558
Photo Three By © Laila Remahl 2004. – Photographer, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=736786
Photo Four by Roger Jones from https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3945580
Photo Five by Tony Alter, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Six by Martin Olsson (mnemo on en/sv wikipedia and commons, martin@minimum.se)., CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Seven by Penny Mayes
Photo Eight by MichaelMaggs, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Nine by By Stu’s Images, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14948937
Photo Ten by Björn S…, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Eleven by Antje Schultner at https://www.flickr.com/photos/momentsinthenature/
Photo Twelve by Eirian Evans
I don’t know the answers but the facts are interesting – and interesting how many are associated with someone being slain!