A seasonal quiz and festive greetings!

Here is a fruity botanical quiz to keep you entertained during the winter holiday season.  The majority of the pics were taken this week in Shropshire, a few were taken a few weeks ago when they were in their prime, just two were taken out of county, not all are native but most, or all, will be quite familiar.

Scientific names for each plant as far as you can go to subspecies, following Stace Fourth Edition since we all need to get used to it!  There are various bonus and supplementary questions so answer as many extra questions as you can.  Bring your answers to the winter social when there will be prizes for the highest scores on Sat. 25th January, FSC Preston Montford at 2-4pm.


1 Supplementary Q. Food plant of much loved (mostly) children's pet, which has an efficient form of reproduction, what is this called?  Bonus Q: How is this defined?

2 Supplementary Q. What is the country/region of origin?

3 Supplementary Q. How many species in this agg.?  Bonus Q. What reproductive method has enabled this speciation?

4 Supplementary Q. What is the name of the structure that enables this plant to attach to the host tree?

5 Supplementary Q. How come this plant is so dangerous?

6  Supplementary Q. Name three traditional cultivated varieties (English names) from Shropshire?

7 Supplementary Q. How old is the oldest tree of this species in the UK and where is it?

8 Supplementary Q. How many Blackbirds are there?

 9 Supplementary Q. What is the name of the south Shropshire hill in the background?

10 Supplementary Q.  A species related to this one has the largest genome on record, which is it ?Bonus Q.  What is a picogram?

 

11 Just the scientific name.

 

12 Just the scientific name.

13 Supplementary Q. What is the animal in the tree?

14 Just the scientific name.

15 Supplementary Q. How is the genus name used, grammatically speaking?

16 Supplementary Q. Which 'list' includes this plant?

17 Supplementary Q. Associated with what mythical creature?

18 Supplementary Q.  How many species in this agg.?

19 Supplementary Q.  What gives the bark the bitter smell?

That's it for pictures but here are some more bonus questions:20.  What is a berry, in botanical terms?21.  Which of the above fruits are not berries, and what are they if they are not berries?22.  Which is the odd one out?Here ends the festive quiz, hope you enjoyed it.  Don't forget to bring your answers to the winter social when there will be prizes for the highest scores on Sat. 25th January, FSC Preston Montford at 2-4pm.  

Autumn 2019 newsletter coming soon

The Autumn 2019 Shropshire Botanical Society newsletter will be winging its way to members very soon. The 'Cover plant' is Galeopsis angustifolia, Red Hemp-nettle, a Red List species which is especially scarce here in the west.

Ruth Dawes gives us an update on the status and conservation efforts for Red Hemp-Nettle at Llanymynech Telephone Exchange, Shropshire.  Ruth has counted the plants at this location for many years, recently collected seed for Kew Millenium Seedbank and undertook scrub clearance to maintain the open conditions that this little annual needs.  An all round conservation effort and with the pleasing results that the population appeared to be thriving this year.

Galeopsis angustifolia, Red Hemp-Nettle, photo D.Wrench