Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Lotus · Dandelion · Cactus · Clover
Answer: Cactus
A cactus's spines are actually changed leaves!
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From the Venus flytrap to the rafflesia — answers and explanations for all 80 questions. Cover the answer, have a guess first, then check the explanation. Want to play it as a quiz? Try it at the Quiz Playground!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Lotus · Dandelion · Cactus · Clover
Answer: Cactus
A cactus's spines are actually changed leaves!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Venus flytrap · Clover · Morning glory · Foxtail grass
Answer: Venus flytrap
When a bug lands on a Venus flytrap, it snaps its leaves shut.
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Chrysanthemum · Cactus · Mimosa · Pine
Answer: Mimosa
The mimosa folds its leaves when you touch it, so it's also called the sensitive plant.
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Rafflesia · Lotus · Sunflower · Magnolia
Answer: Rafflesia
The rafflesia is a giant flower that can reach 1 m across.
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Morning glory · Rice plant · Cosmos · Ginkgo
Answer: Ginkgo
The ginkgo is famous for living a very long time.
🪤 Q. Which amazing plant snaps its leaves shut and eats a bug that lands on it?
Options: Pine · Dandelion · Venus flytrap · Cactus
Answer: Venus flytrap
The Venus flytrap shuts its leaves like a trap!
🪰 Q. Why does the Venus flytrap catch bugs?
Options: It's bored · It hates light · To get the nutrients (nitrogen) it lacks from bugs · It's angry
Answer: To get the nutrients (nitrogen) it lacks from bugs
It lives in poor soil, so it tops up its nutrients with bugs!
🫙 Q. Which plant drops bugs into a jug-shaped leaf and digests them?
Options: Rose · Bamboo · Pitcher plant (Nepenthes) · Sunflower
Answer: Pitcher plant (Nepenthes)
Bugs slip and fall into the slippery jug!
💧 Q. Which carnivorous plant catches bugs with a sticky liquid?
Options: Cactus · Chrysanthemum · Sundew · Cherry tree
Answer: Sundew
Stuck fast to sticky drops that look like dew!
🌿 Q. Where do carnivorous plants mostly live?
Options: In the sea · In wetlands and bogs with few nutrients · In the middle of the desert · In rich farm fields
Answer: In wetlands and bogs with few nutrients
The soil is poor, so they get their nutrients from bugs!
🌵 Q. A cactus's spines are changed from what?
Options: Flowers · Roots · Leaves · Fruit
Answer: Leaves
Leaves. Wide leaves lose a lot of water, so to survive in the desert the cactus turned its leaves into spines and saves water.
🌵 Q. What's a cactus's secret for living in the desert?
Options: It runs away at night · It stores water in its plump body · It makes rain · It doesn't drink water
Answer: It stores water in its plump body
It packs its body full of water!
🌵 Q. Which is NOT a job a cactus's spines do?
Options: Carrying pollen · Making shade · Stopping animals from eating it · Cutting down water loss
Answer: Carrying pollen
The spines protect the body and save water!
🏜️ Q. What is special about the desert plant welwitschia, said to 'live a thousand years'?
Options: It lives a very long life with just two leaves · It moves house every day · It lives underwater · It dies every year
Answer: It lives a very long life with just two leaves
The welwitschia lives a thousand years on two leaves!
🌿 Q. Which plant folds its leaves shyly when you touch them?
Options: Pine · Mimosa (the sensitive plant) · Sunflower · Rose
Answer: Mimosa (the sensitive plant)
Give it a poke and the leaves fold right up!
🌿 Q. Why is the mimosa thought to fold its leaves?
Options: To dance · Only to sleep · To drink water · To act startled and protect itself
Answer: To act startled and protect itself
It startles its enemies to protect itself!
🌻 Q. What amazing thing does a young sunflower do during the day?
Options: It hides underground · It turns its head to follow the sun · It folds its leaves · It spins around
Answer: It turns its head to follow the sun
The sunflower follows the sun!
🌙 Q. What do you call it when a plant folds its leaves at night and looks like it's 'sleeping'?
Options: Moving house · Molting · Hibernation · Sleep movement (nyctinasty)
Answer: Sleep movement (nyctinasty)
Clover and mimosa fold their leaves at night!
🌸 Q. Which plant has the biggest flower in the world, and smells awful?
Options: Dandelion · Rafflesia · Chrysanthemum · Rose
Answer: Rafflesia
One meter across! The rafflesia smells like rotting meat.
🪰 Q. What smell does the rafflesia give off to call flies?
Options: The sea · Rotting meat · Sweet honey · Perfume
Answer: Rotting meat
It lures flies in to carry its pollen!
🌺 Q. What is special about the tall, foul-smelling 'corpse flower'?
Options: It blooms every day · It only blooms in winter · It blooms underwater · It blooms huge, briefly, once every few years
Answer: It blooms huge, briefly, once every few years
The titan arum bursts into bloom!
🪷 Q. Which water plant has leaves so wide a baby could sit on one?
Options: Bamboo · Cactus · Sunflower · Giant water lily
Answer: Giant water lily
The giant water lily's leaves are as big as trays!
🌲 Q. Which group of trees is the tallest in the world?
Options: Bamboo · Cactus · Cosmos · Sequoia (redwood)
Answer: Sequoia (redwood)
Sequoias grow over 100 m tall!
💥 Q. What happens if you touch a garden balsam's seed pod?
Options: Water comes out · It glows · It smells nice · It pops and flings its seeds out
Answer: It pops and flings its seeds out
'Don't touch me!' Pop!
🧷 Q. How do cocklebur and beggar-tick seeds spread far away?
Options: Blowing on the wind · Floating on water · Bursting by themselves · Hooking onto animal fur
Answer: Hooking onto animal fur
Seeds that stick right onto clothes and fur!
🌬️ Q. How do dandelion and milkweed seeds travel far?
Options: Only by floating on water · By walking off on their own · Riding the wind on fluffy hairs · Only by being eaten by animals
Answer: Riding the wind on fluffy hairs
Off they go like little parachutes!
🥥 Q. How does a coconut spread its seed?
Options: Blowing on the wind · Bursting by itself · Sticking to animal fur · Floating on the water, far out to sea
Answer: Floating on the water, far out to sea
The coconut goes travelling across the ocean!
🔥 Q. Some amazing trees need a fire before their seeds burst open and sprout. What are they using?
Options: The heat of a forest fire · Wind · Sound · Snow
Answer: The heat of a forest fire
Some pine cones open in the heat!
🌿 Q. What do you call a plant that can't make its own food and lives attached to another plant?
Options: Moss · A succulent · A parasitic plant · A carnivorous plant
Answer: A parasitic plant
Rafflesia and mistletoe are parasitic plants!
🌱 Q. Which plant grows on top of another tree but photosynthesizes for itself?
Options: An epiphyte (like an orchid) · A carnivorous plant · A parasitic plant · A cactus
Answer: An epiphyte (like an orchid)
An epiphyte uses the tree as a foothold!
🪴 Q. What do you call a plump plant that stores water in its leaves and stems?
Options: Moss · A succulent · A fern · Seaweed
Answer: A succulent
Succulents, like cacti and aloe!
🌵 Q. What is aloe used for in our everyday life?
Options: Making tires · Putting on burns and skin · Making pencils · Making paper
Answer: Putting on burns and skin
The gel inside the leaf goes on your skin!
🎋 Q. What makes bamboo so amazing?
Options: It flowers every day · It grows underwater · It only grows in winter · It grows very fast and flowers once every few decades
Answer: It grows very fast and flowers once every few decades
It can grow a meter in a single day!
🌙 Q. What is special about plants that send out scent at night to call moths?
Options: They only smell during the day · They have no scent · They only smell in winter · Their flowers open at night, with a strong scent
Answer: Their flowers open at night, with a strong scent
Like the evening primrose, wide open at night!
🌕 Q. When does the evening primrose bloom?
Options: Midday · Only in winter · Only at dawn · Evening into night
Answer: Evening into night
It opens in the evening, as if greeting the moon!
🍂 Q. Which tree is called a 'living fossil' and has been here since the age of the dinosaurs?
Options: Rose · Cosmos · Tulip · Ginkgo
Answer: Ginkgo
The very, very old ginkgo!
🌿 Q. What's the secret of the 'resurrection plant', which looks dead when dry and revives with water?
Options: With no water it stops everything and holds on · It makes water · It plays dead · It moves house
Answer: With no water it stops everything and holds on
Meet water, and it comes back green!
🌿 Q. Where does moss live?
Options: Damp, shady places · Only deep underwater · Hot deserts · Only inside ice
Answer: Damp, shady places
Moss grows in damp shade!
🌿 Q. Ferns and mosses spread by 'spores' instead of flowers and seeds. What do spores do?
Options: Give off scent · Catch bugs · Make water · Grow into new plants, like seeds
Answer: Grow into new plants, like seeds
Tiny spores ride away on the wind!
🌳 Q. Which plant does rubber come from?
Options: The white sap of the rubber tree · Dandelion flowers · Moss · Cactus spines
Answer: The white sap of the rubber tree
The sap that comes out of a rubber tree's bark!
🧽 Q. What is the 'loofah' used as a natural sponge?
Options: Plastic · Only a sea sponge · The dried insides of a loofah gourd (a plant) · Stone
Answer: The dried insides of a loofah gourd (a plant)
The fibers inside the loofah fruit scrub your dishes!
☕ Q. What is coffee made from?
Options: Coffee tree leaves · Coffee flowers · The seeds inside the coffee tree's fruit (the beans) · Coffee roots
Answer: The seeds inside the coffee tree's fruit (the beans)
The seeds inside the red coffee cherry get roasted!
🍫 Q. How does cacao, the raw material of chocolate, grow?
Options: On a vine · Underwater · Underground · As big pods right on the cacao tree's trunk
Answer: As big pods right on the cacao tree's trunk
Cacao grows straight out of the trunk!
🌼 Q. Where does vanilla flavor come from?
Options: Vanilla roots · Vanilla petals · The seed pod of the vanilla orchid · Vanilla tree leaves
Answer: The seed pod of the vanilla orchid
Vanilla is a kind of orchid!
⚠️ Q. Some plants are pretty but dangerous to eat or touch. What's the right attitude?
Options: Don't eat or touch a plant you don't know · Rub its juice on you · Touch anything at all · Eat anything that looks pretty
Answer: Don't eat or touch a plant you don't know
Some plants are poisonous, so be careful!
🌿 Q. What should you do if you meet a plant like poison ivy that makes your skin swell?
Options: Rub the leaves · Stay away from it · Rub its juice on you · Try eating it
Answer: Stay away from it
A poison ivy rash itches like anything!
🌿 Q. Do carnivorous plants photosynthesize too?
Options: Yes, they photosynthesize and top up with bugs · No, they only eat bugs
Answer: Yes, they photosynthesize and top up with bugs
They do both! That's what makes them so amazing.
🪷 Q. Which tiny floating plant is called 'the smallest flowering plant in the world'?
Options: Rose · Duckweed · Sunflower · Lotus
Answer: Duckweed
A water plant smaller than a grain of rice!
🌵 Q. Do cacti have flowers?
Options: Yes, they have showy flowers · No, never
Answer: Yes, they have showy flowers
Every now and then, a really pretty flower!
🌍 Q. What do all these 'amazing plants' have in common?
Options: They all eat bugs · They all look the same · Each one lives in its own special way, suited to where it lives · They all live in deserts
Answer: Each one lives in its own special way, suited to where it lives
The wonderful wisdom of fitting your home!
🌿 Q. What do the mimosa and the Venus flytrap have in common?
Options: They're amazing plants that move (react) · Both are desert plants · Both are big trees · Both are sea plants
Answer: They're amazing plants that move (react)
Plants that react when you touch them!
🌱 Q. Which is closest to why plants evolved to be so varied and amazing?
Options: So each could survive · For no reason · To surprise people · Out of boredom
Answer: So each could survive
It's the result of the wisdom of survival!
🪴 Q. How do you look after a succulent well?
Options: With ice water · In the dark · A little water, plenty of sunlight · Soak it every day
Answer: A little water, plenty of sunlight
Water it too often and it goes mushy!
🌿 Q. Why does mistletoe live attached to another tree?
Options: It's bored · Only because it likes shade · Only because it wants to be up high · To get the tree's water and nutrients
Answer: To get the tree's water and nutrients
A parasitic plant leaning on another tree!
🏛️ Q. Where can you see amazing plants?
Options: A parking lot · A botanical garden (greenhouse) · A subway station · A theme park snack bar
Answer: A botanical garden (greenhouse)
See the world's amazing plants at a botanical garden!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Cacao · Coffee tree · Sequoia · Pitcher plant
Answer: Pitcher plant
The pitcher plant (Nepenthes) drops bugs into its jug-shaped leaf!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Corpse flower · Cotton · Sunflower · Sundew
Answer: Sundew
The sundew catches bugs with sticky dewdrops!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Rainbow eucalyptus · Baobab · Mistletoe · Corpse flower
Answer: Corpse flower
The giant corpse flower (titan arum) gives off a terrible smell!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Giant water lily · Bird of paradise flower · Moss · Ginkgo
Answer: Giant water lily
The giant water lily's leaves are so big a baby could sit on one!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Mistletoe · Cacao · Welwitschia · Cotton
Answer: Welwitschia
The welwitschia, a desert plant that lives a thousand years on two leaves!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Giant water lily · Mistletoe · Lithops · Tree fern
Answer: Lithops
Lithops (living stones) hide themselves by looking like pebbles!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Dragon tree · Baobab · Sequoia · Corpse flower
Answer: Baobab
The thick baobab stores water in its trunk!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Ginkgo · Rafflesia · Pitcher plant · Sequoia
Answer: Sequoia
The sequoia, the biggest tree in the world!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Bird of paradise flower · Water hyacinth · Coffee tree · Dragon tree
Answer: Dragon tree
The dragon tree, called 'dragon's blood tree' for its red sap!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Sunflower · Vanilla · Cacao · Saguaro cactus
Answer: Saguaro cactus
The giant saguaro cactus, arms held wide!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Moss · Bamboo · Prickly pear cactus · Dragon tree
Answer: Prickly pear cactus
The flat, paddle-shaped prickly pear cactus, which grows fruit!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Aloe · Dragon tree · Mistletoe · Lithops
Answer: Aloe
Aloe, whose inner gel goes on your skin!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Giant water lily · Saguaro cactus · Duckweed · Moss
Answer: Duckweed
Duckweed, a tiny plant floating on the water!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Corpse flower · Cotton · Water hyacinth · Pitcher plant
Answer: Water hyacinth
The water hyacinth floats on air pockets!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Bamboo · Mistletoe · Tree fern · Giant water lily
Answer: Mistletoe
Mistletoe lives attached to another tree!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Saguaro cactus · Corpse flower · Moss · Welwitschia
Answer: Moss
Moss spreads by spores in damp shade!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Mistletoe · Prickly pear cactus · Water hyacinth · Tree fern
Answer: Tree fern
The tree fern grows as big as a tree!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Dragon tree · Pitcher plant · Bamboo · Corpse flower
Answer: Bamboo
Bamboo can grow a meter in a single day!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Rainbow eucalyptus · Mimosa · Bamboo · Cotton
Answer: Rainbow eucalyptus
The eucalyptus whose bark peels away in rainbow colors!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Bird of paradise flower · Sequoia · Vanilla · Rainbow eucalyptus
Answer: Bird of paradise flower
The bird of paradise flower, as showy as a bird!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Sunflower · Mistletoe · Corpse flower · Ginkgo
Answer: Sunflower
The sunflower, whose young flowers turn to follow the sun!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Sequoia · Cacao · Corpse flower · Water hyacinth
Answer: Cacao
Cacao, whose fruit grows right on the trunk and becomes chocolate!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Coffee tree · Sunflower · Sundew · Mimosa
Answer: Coffee tree
The coffee tree, whose red fruit holds the seeds that become coffee!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Lithops · Cotton · Duckweed · Ginkgo
Answer: Cotton
Cotton, the amazing plant that grows fluff!
Q. What is the name of this amazing plant?
Options: Baobab · Cotton · Vanilla · Prickly pear cactus
Answer: Vanilla
Vanilla, a kind of orchid that gives us its scent!