Plant Trivia
Amorphophallus titanium - The largest flower in the world - well it also happens to be the stinkiest ! Its unbranched flower can reach 15 ft tall !!!! The bloom produces a smell like that of rotting meat, giving it its common name of corpse flower. The plant developed its unique fragrance to attract flies that pollinate it
Astronauts - On the Space Station they are growing lettuces to study gardening techniques in space .
Bamboo - The fastest growing plant in the world ! it can grow an incredible 3 ft in one day - now that's impressive. Did you know that there are 1500 species of bamboo!
Bananas
Did you know that we consume over 100 billion bananas every year ! Well not you and I but in general the worlds population goes bananas over bananas !
Basil
It belongs to the mint family. Native to tropical Asia the name “basil” is derived from the Greek word “basileios” meaning “king” or “royal”, as reflected on ancient cultures’ belief that this herb was noble and sacred. One thing is for certain, basil is sacred in the kitchen; but did you know research has shown combining basil and yogurt together and applying on the skin may clear up acne?
Black - No plant species has a flower or blossom which is a completely black color. Some species like tulips and iris have black colored specimens but they are not truly black in color and are in fact a rich dark purple color.
Books - Famous literary works that center their plots on gardens include The Secret Garden, the Dark Materials trilogy, Tom’s Midnight Garden, “The Selfish Giant,” Romeo and Juliet, “The Merchant’s Tale” in Canterbury Tales, La Roman de la Rose, Rebecca, The Door in the Wall, and the book of Genesis in the Bible.
Cannabis - Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew cannabis ( pot, weed, gunja ) on their plantations.
Carrots
All carrots were purple or white - orange was a mutation - now when you buy your heirloom purple or white carrots - just remember they were eating them as far back as the 10th century!
Cranberries - They float because of small pockets of air inside of the berry - causing them to bob along on the waters surface.
Earthworms - The ones we have in the Northern part of North America are an introduced species and they contribute to the deterioration of our forests.
Families - Plants can sometimes belong to weird scientific families. Like the banana belongs to the herb family. And onions and asparagus are from the lily family.
Folklore - Different plant species have featured in various tales and myths of folklore. Persephone of Greek mythology eat a pomegranate in Hades kingdom and so had to stay with him for 1/3 of a year.
Fruits
From a botanical standpoint, avocados and pumpkin are fruits not vegetables ! because they bear the plants seeds. Rhubarb, on the other hand is a vegetable!
Guerilla gardening - The act of gardening on land that you do not have the right to enter or garden on. It is often a political protest - and is often just people who want empty and unused space to look pretty.
May 2nd - World naked gardening day - I kid you not - amateur and professional gardeners are encouraged to garden in the buff to promote world body awareness day. Do we garden in the buff at Plant Specialists - not.
Microorganisms
There are more of them in one teaspoon of soil than there are people on earth - Oh My Goodness !!!! - but they are important for keeping your soil full of nutrients.
Music - Experiments on plants with music have been many and varied. One interesting fact is that plants grown with heavy rock music - the plants grow away from the music as if trying to escape !
Nectarine - What is the difference between a nectarine and a peach? Fuzz my friend fuzz. Nectarines have no fuzz while peaches are fuzz balls.
Notch - A notch made in a tree will always remain at the same height above the ground, even as the tree grows.
Oleander - All parts of it are poisonous. ! A beautiful Mediterranean native flowering shrub used by the Romans as their preferred method of poisoning someone ! Ingesting oleander leaves can cause gastrointestinal, cardiac, and central nervous system problems and possible death.
Onions
Why do we cry when cutting an onion? Sulfuric compounds are to blame for all of those tears. According to The National Onion Association ( who knew there was one ) chilling the onion and cutting the root end last may minimize the need for tissues.
Lepanthes woodburyana
Orchids - The orchid plant has between 20,000 – 30,000 flowering species, making orchids, the flowering plant with the most flower varieties. And what beautiful little gems they are !
Pineapple - A member of the bromeliad family - and the only edible fruit in that family.
Pinus aristata - The worlds oldest tree -the bristlecone pine.
Pitcher plant - Sarracenia psittacina, is another smart predatory plant. An insect will land on the opening of the pitcher. The plant does not produce nectar but has slyly lined the opening with it. Hence the insect is fooled into thinking the deeper it goes, it will find the source of the nectar. So it ventures into the long dark tunnel. This tunnel has fake windows or little shafts of light giving the appearance of an exit at the end. But the plant slowly forces the insect right into its stomach and traps it with the stomach’s thick hair lining and then digests it whole.
Planting - The bare bum test - if you were not sure if it was warm enough to sow seeds you would pull your pants down and sit on the soil if it was too cold to sit on then it was too cold to plant your seeds.
Radiation - After World War Two, plants were experimented on. Including hitting them with large amounts of radiation to encourage mutations - it was known as Atomic gardening - cool right ! Some of the results of these mutations are the disease resistant peppermint plant, and the "Rio Stat" grapefruit which now accounts for 75% of the grapefruit grown in Texas.
Roses
The symbol of everything - beauty, death, friendship, sorrow you name it ! - Did you know that roses are not just the beautiful flowers you see They also include in their family - Apples, cherries, strawberries and a lot of other berries as well. So next time you get a bunch you could say that is Berry Nice - thank you !
For lunch? - some of your favorite fruits are actually in the rose family - Apples, peaches, pears, cherries, raspberries, strawberries are all relatives of the beautiful rose!
Sequoia sempevirens - The worlds tallest growing tree is the coast redwood, which grows along the pacific coast of the United States, mainly in California.
Slowest growing plant – Virgin’s palm i.e. Dioon edule (0.03 inches per year) and saguaro (1 inch in 10 years).
Sunflowers
It’s not just one spectacular flower! but actually 1000 - 2000 individual flowers held together on a single stalk !
Strawberry - One of the fruits that has seeds on the outside - up to 200 !
Tall tree - The tallest living Plant in the world is the Coastal Redwood - reaching up to 375 ft in height. These beauties ( native to California ) can live up to 2000 years !
Trees - The longest living organisms on earth are trees !
Tulips - During the 1600's, tulips were so valuable in Holland that their bulbs were worth more than gold! the craze was called tulip mania, or tulipomania, and caused the crash of the dutch economy.
Venus fly trap - Dionaea muscipula catches flies and other insects, when they land on its brightly colored leaves. This plant is a perfect example of a natural booby trap. The insect lands on the leaves, which have tiny hair on them. If the hair is moved by the insect, the trap closes. Once inside the trap, the insect will struggle to get out and this movement further stimulates the hair, so the plant closes the trap more firmly and begins to digest the insect within the closed leaves itself!
Our Garden Care team can test your trivia knowledge all summer long!
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Article written by our Staff Horticulturist, Peter B Morris, BSc, MSc, MBA
All photographs used with permission @SHUTTERSTOCK