Plant Words Match Quiz | Thematic Fun

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The solid remains of a fire (3 letters)

Answer: Fraxinus excelsior

Fraxinus excelsior, the European ash - a large deciduous tree of the family Oleaceae, found in mainland Europe and the British Isles. The noun "ash", meaning the remains of a fire, comes from the Proto-West Germanic "aska", with a further connection to a Proto-Indo-European root connected to burning. The name of the tree comes from the Proto-Germanic "askaz", again with a Proto-Indo-European root.

Ash wood has been used for many uses and is still popular for furniture, but ash trees are currently under considerable pressure from a fungoid disease, ash dieback.

2. A colour between red and white (4 letters)

Answer: Dianthus plumarius

Dianthus plumarius, the common pink or carnation - an evergreen perennial flowering plant of the family Caryophyllaceae, native to central Europe but subsequently well-distributed in Europe and invasively in the US. The use of the word "pink" for the colour, first recorded in the late 16th Century, is thought to come from the flower's name.

The origin of the latter is unclear, but may derive from the Dutch "pincken", meaning "to blink".

3. An older person, often with some authority (5 letters)

Answer: Sambucus nigra

Sambucus nigra, the elder - a deciduous shrub or small tree of the family Adoxaceae, found throughout Europe. The American species, S. canadensis, grows throughout North America east of the Rocky Mountains and down to Bolivia. The noun elder, meaning an older person, comes from the Proto-Germanic "al�iz�". The name of the plant comes via the Old English "ellaern" from the Proto-Germanic "elernaz".

The white elder flowers are very fragrant - who can forget "your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries" from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". The flowers can also be used to make a slightly alcoholic sparkling drink, "elderflower champagne". However, while the dark berries are mildly poisonous when raw and should be avoided, elderberry wine and jam are frequently made.

4. A place where money is produced (4 letters)

Answer: Mentha spicata

Mentha spicata, common mint or spearmint - a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Lamiaceae, found in Europe and southern temperate regions of Asia. The noun "mint", a place where coins are manufactured, has a particularly interesting derivation from ancient Rome: coins were made at the temple of Julia Moneta, the mother of the Muses, and so by derivation the word used for a mint came to be "moneta" (also as in "monetary"). This led to "munit" in Proto-West-Germanic and thence to "mynet" and "mynt" in Old and Middle English respectively. The name of the plant comes from the Latin "menta", possibly going back to the Ancient Greek "minthe".

Mint has been grown for at least 2,000 years, and was introduced to the UK by the Romans.

5. To regret some past action (3 letters)

Answer: Ruta graveolens

Ruta graveolens, the common rue - a woody perennial shrub of the family Rutaceae, native to the Balkans. The verb "rue", meaning to regret or repent for a past action, comes via the Old English "hreowan", meaning to grieve or to make sorry, from the Proto-Germanic "hrewwana", meaning to sadden or repent. The name of the plant comes from the Ancient Greek "rhuta".

Rue is grown throughout the world as an ornamental plant and as a culinary herb - the leaves are very strong-smelling and bitter when bruised. References to the plant are found in Shakespeare and in the Bible, and it's the national herb of Lithuania - virgin brides would wear it as a symbol of their purity.

6. Neat and tidy in appearance (6 letters)

Answer: Picea abies

Picea abies, the Norway or European spruce - an evergreen coniferous tree of the family Pinaceae found in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.
The name of the tree and the verb or adjective used in the sense of tidying or being neat both come from the same source - the name of the state "Prussia", which was often referred to in England in the 14th to 17th Centuries as "Spruce" or "Spruceland". Many goods, wooden and otherwise, imported from Prussia thus came to be referred to as "spruce", for example spruce board, spruce coffer and spruce tree. In terms of the neat or tidy meaning of the word, a particular type of leather from Prussia was recorded in 1464 as being called "spruce leather", and jerkins made from this were considered to be smart.

Spruce trees are of major economic importance for building and also, of course, for Christmas trees!

7. A dark yellowish-green colour (5 letters)

Answer: Olea europaea

Olea europaea, the European olive - an evergreen tree or shrub of the family Oleaceae, found in the Mediterranean basin. The derivation of the name goes back via Latin "oliva" and Proto-Greek "elaiwa" to Proto-Indo-European "loiwom". The colour is, of course, derived from the dark yellowish-green of the unripe fruit.

The fruit of the olive has been of major economic importance for at least 100,000 years, and there is much symbolic importance attached to the oil and the tree itself.

8. A wise person (4 letters)

Answer: Salvia officinalis

Salvia officinalis, the common sage - a perennial, evergreen small shrub of the family Lamiaceae, found in the Mediterranean area. The adjective sage derives from the Latin sapere, "to be wise"; while the noun usage, "a wise man", dates to at least 1300 AD. The name of the plant derives via the Middle French "sauge" and Old French "salje" from the Latin "salvia", from "salvus" (healthy).

Sage is one of the essential herbs ("Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme"), although it's more used in Mediterranean countries than in France. A fine example of its use in the UK is as an additive to make Sage Derby cheese.

9. A cuboid container, often with a hinged lid (3 letters)

Answer: Buxus sempervirens

Buxus sempervirens, the common box - an evergreen shrub or small tree of the family Buxaceae, found in western and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The noun box meaning a container and the name of the plant both go back either to the Latin "buxus" (something made of box wood) or to the Ancient Greek "puxis" with the same meaning: thus both the wood and the container senses have existed in parallel since the word's origin.

Box is a very popular plant because of its fragrance, and is used in topiary and for hedges in gardens. The wood is very hard and heavy, ideal for cabinet-making.

10. A body of water more-or-less surrounded by land (3 letters)

Answer: Laurus nobilis

Laurus nobilis, the bay tree - an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub of the flowering plant family Lauraceae, native to the Mediterranean region. The noun bay, an area of sea mainly surrounded by land, comes from the Latin "baia, possibly ultimately from the Iberian "badia". The plant name comes from the Old English "beg" and the Latin "baca", both meaning "berry".

The bay is economically important because of its use as a culinary herb and as an ornamental garden tree plant.

Source: Author Southendboy

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Plant Words Trivia Quiz

You're given the definition of a word that is also the name of a common plant, and your task is to match the two. To make things a bit more challenging, the name of the plant is in Latin!

Questions		Choices
1. The solid remains of a fire (3 letters)		Sambucus nigra
2. A colour between red and white (4 letters)		Fraxinus excelsior
3. An older person, often with some authority (5 letters)		Laurus nobilis
4. A place where money is produced (4 letters)		Mentha spicata
5. To regret some past action (3 letters)		Olea europaea
6. Neat and tidy in appearance (6 letters)		Picea abies
7. A dark yellowish-green colour (5 letters)		Buxus sempervirens
8. A wise person (4 letters)		Ruta graveolens
9. A cuboid container, often with a hinged lid (3 letters)		Dianthus plumarius
10. A body of water more-or-less surrounded by land (3 letters)		Salvia officinalis