Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue Quiz

The iris is a ring-shaped structure in the human eye that defines eye colour. It consists of a pigmented fibrovascular layer, called stroma, and pigmented epithelial cells behind it. As the stroma is connected to a sphincter muscle and a set of dilator muscles, the iris is also responsible for controlling the size and diameter of the pupil, the hole located in its centre. The structure's name comes from the Greek word for "rainbow", because it comes in various colours - typically shades of brown, hazel, green, grey and blue.

In Greek mythology, Iris was the daughter of the sea god Thaumas and the Oceanid nymph Electra. This goddess was not only the personification of the rainbow (the meaning of her name), but also the messenger of the Olympian gods, associated in particular with Hera, and occasionally their cupbearer. In Ancient Greek vase painting, she was depicted as a beautiful young woman with golden wings. In Homer's "Iliad", Iris appears as a messenger on numerous occasions, running errands on behalf of the gods.

The flowering plants in the genus Iris are also named after the rainbow, as they come in a wide variety of colours. The flag of the Italian city of Florence depicts a stylized red iris (erroneously called "giglio", which means lily) on a white field. This flower emblem was inspired by the white irises (Iris florentina) that grow abundantly in Tuscany and the rest of Italy. This plant's thick, strongly scented rhizome is known as orris-root, whose essential oil is widely used in perfumery and as a flavouring for candy and liqueurs.

The daffodil belongs to the genus Narcissus, which includes around 80 species of flowering plants. The name of the genus, which is also one of the common names of this flower, is associated with a well-known character of Greek myth. As related in Ovid's "Metamorphoses", Narcissus was a youth who spurned any advances from those who were attracted by his great beauty. As punishment for his arrogance, he was made to fall in love with his reflection in a pool of water, and eventually pined away. After his death, the gods turned him into the yellow and white flower that bears his name. The word narcissism, denoting an extremely self-centred personality, originates from this myth.

The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, where it is associated with St David's Day (1 March), the feast day of the country's patron saint. People traditionally wear daffodils and leeks (another emblem of Wales) on that day. In fact, the two plants are closely related: both grow from bulbs, and the flower is known in Welsh as "Peter's leek". In addition, daffodils usually bloom before the official beginning of spring, around the time (or even earlier) St David's Day is celebrated.

One of William Wordsworth's most famous poems, "I Wandered Lon'ly As a Cloud", is often referred to as "Daffodils". Composed in 1804, the 24-line poem was inspired by a walk the poet took with his sister Dorothy in the Lake District. During that outing, they saw a "long belt" of flowers stretching along the shore of Ullswater. Wordsworth describes the vast expanse of bright yellow flowers swaying and dancing in the wind, inspiring a sense of happiness in the beholder. In the last stanza, the poet reflects on how the recollection of that beautiful sight often comes to cheer him up in moments of loneliness and boredom.

Poppies are flowering plants in the family Papaveraceae. The dried latex extracted from the seed capsules of Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy, is a powerful, highly addictive mix of alkaloids with analgesic properties. The most important of these alkaloids is morphine, widely used in the treatment of both acute and chronic pain. Another chemical constituent of opium is codeine, which is also used to treat coughing and diarrhea. Heroin, a dangerous street drug, is synthesized from morphine.

The tiny, black seeds of Papaver somniferum are widely used in baking, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. They are also a staple of the cuisine of Ashkenazi Jews, many of whom emigrated to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the most common toppings sprinkled on bagels, ring-shaped bread rolls that originated in Jewish communities in Poland, poppy seeds are also used as a filling for pastries such as strudel. Unfortunately, eating foods that contain poppy seeds can produce a false positive for opiates in a drug test - as some people (not only athletes) have found the hard way.

Papaver rhoeas, the common or corn poppy, grows in fields around Europe. During WWI, the sight of the blood-red flowers growing over the graves of fallen soldiers inspired Canadian physician and poet John McRae to write his famous poem "In Flanders Fields". The poem in turn inspired the tradition of wearing remembrance poppies to commemorate the casualties of war, as well as raise funds on behalf of veterans and members of the armed forces, in the days leading to Remembrance Day. This memorial day, observed on 11 November in Commonwealth countries, is also known as Poppy Day.

The rose is the national flower of England. The Tudor rose, which appears on the compartment (the green mound beneath the shield) of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom, is a heraldic symbol that combines the emblems of the two houses involved in the War of the Roses - the red rose of the house of Lancaster (around the outside) and the white rose of the House of York (in the centre). In 1986, the rose was also designated as the national flower of the USA by President Ronald Reagan.

The word rosary (from the Latin for "rose garden") refers both to a set of prayers used in the Catholic Church and to a string of beads (or knots) that are counted while saying these prayers. Rosaries usually contain five groups of ten beads each, called "decades" - though rosaries with a smaller or larger number of decades, as well as rosary rings, also exist. Made of a wide variety of materials, from plastic to gemstones and precious metals, rosaries are often worn around a person's neck as a symbol of their faith.

A rose window is a circular window divided into segments by elaborate stone tracery. These segments are frequently filled with stained glass, so as to lend these windows the appearance of huge, multicoloured flowers. Though much older in origin, rose windows are one of the distinctive features of Gothic architecture, frequently seen on the façades of famous church buildings such as Notre-Dame de Paris or Chartres Cathedral.

Native to Western and Central Asia, tulips have iconic status in the cultures of a number of countries in that part of the world. One such country is Turkey, from where tulips are believed to have been introduced into Central and Northern Europe in the mid-16th century. Called "lale" in Turkish, the tulip became one of the symbols of the Ottoman Empire, and was widely used as a decorative motif in Ottoman art. In fact, the prosperous period in Ottoman history between 1714 and 1730 is known as the Tulip Era. The tulip is Turkey's national flower, celebrated every April in a festival that takes place in Istanbul.

When tulips were introduced into the Netherlands in the late 16th century, they became so popular as to bring about a veritable craze, known as "tulip mania", which is often regarded as the first speculative bubble in history. Between 1634 and 1637, some tulip bulbs commanded extremely high prices - which, as often happens, eventually collapsed, with severe consequences for some investors, though not for the whole of the Dutch economy. In fact, the account featured in the 1841 book "Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Scottish journalist Charles Mackay exaggerated the economic consequences of "tulip mania".

Broken tulips, boasting dramatic, flame-like variegated patterns caused by a virus, are depicted in many of the stunning still lifes produced during the Dutch Golden Age. While Rembrandt, the greatest and most influential of those artists, only painted a handful of still lifes in his career, one of his works - portraying his first wife, Saskia, as the Roman goddess Flora - depicts a large, red-and-white broken tulip as part of the goddess' floral crown. Because of that, and as a tribute to the artist's mastery of light and shadow, the variegated tulip varieties grown today are known as Rembrandts.

The sweet violet (Viola odorata) is lovely but unassuming, with its petite flowers (which can also be white or pale yellow), heart-shaped leaves and delicate scent. Since it usually grows in wooded areas or shaded lawns, it has became a byword for modesty and shyness - as exemplified by the phrase "shrinking violet", denoting an exceedingly shy person who does not like to attract attention. Interestingly, in Ancient Greece violets were associated with love and fertility, and were sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love - who was definitely not a shrinking violet.

The beautiful purplish-blue colour of sweet violets (as shown in the photo) has given its name to the colour found at one end of the spectrum of visible light, immediately following blue (which has a longer wavelength). Ultraviolet light (UV) is not visible to humans. Though violet and purple are often used interchangeably to denote a colour between blue and red, purple usually contains more red, and violet more blue. In optics, purple is a combination of blue, red and violet light.

Native to the temperate regions of the Old World, sweet violets bloom in the early spring, or even in late winter in milder climates. This is the main reason why they have been chosen as one of the birth flowers of February, along with primroses - also early-blooming flowers in the Northern Hemisphere. Introduced to the Americas, as well as parts of Asia and Australia, violets have also been adopted as state flowers by four US states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

The family Orchidaceae is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, including an estimated 28,000 species in 702 genera. One of these genera, numbering about 110 evergreen species, is the vanilla orchids, found mainly in the tropical regions of the world. Vanilla planifolia, or flat-leaved vanilla, is known as the main source for the one of the world's most common and popular flavourings. This plant is native of the tropical Americas, though it is now widely cultivated in other parts of the world with a similar climate. The organic compound that gives vanilla its characteristic scent is a phenolic aldehyde called vanillin.

Though orchids occur in almost every habitat on Earth, the majority of the family's thousands of species are found in tropical rainforests, particularly in Asia and Central and South America. Many orchids are epiphytes - that is, plants that grow on the surface of another plant; however, those that grow in temperate rather than tropical climates tend to be terrestrial. A number of countries in the tropical Americas have orchid species as their national flowers - namely Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela. A hybrid orchid known as Vanda Miss Joaquim is also the national flower of Singapore.

The character of Nero Wolfe was created by American mystery writer Rex Stout in 1934. Wolfe is described as an obese eccentric armchair detective, originally from Montenegro, who lives in a luxurious New York brownstone that he rarely leaves. On the house's top floor there is a greenhouse where Wolfe grows 10,000 orchids. He is assisted in his hobby by Theodore Horstmann, a renowned orchid expert who (at least in some of the books in the series) is also a resident of the house. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's secretary (and the stories' narrator), is in charge of keeping the records of the orchids' germination.

The sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is a powerful religious and cultural symbol in many Asian countries, particularly India, which has adopted it as its national flower. This beautiful aquatic flower (often mistaken for a water lily) is called "padma" in Sanskrit. The most common meditation pose in yoga is known as "padmasana", or lotus position. Both the Buddha and various Hindu deities are often depicted seated in this pose, which involves sitting cross-legged on the ground with the right foot on top of the left thigh, and the left foot on top of the right thigh. The soles of the feet should be facing upward, while the heels should be as close to the abdomen as possible.

In Hindu and Buddhist religious art, a stylized, many-petalled lotus is used as a seat or pedestal for divine figures. The earliest depictions of this lotus throne (also known as lotus platform) date from the 2nd century BC, though the motif became common in Buddhist art around the 3rd century AD. In Hinduism, the lotus is closely associated with Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu and goddess of wealth and prosperity, who is often depicted seated or standing on a lotus, or holding lotus flowers in her hands. In Buddhism, the lotus - which rises unstained from muddy waters - is a symbol of purity of body and mind, as well as growth towards enlightenment.

A Portuguese colony until 20 December 1999, Macao is one of China's two special administrative regions (SAR) - the other being Hong Kong, located on the other side of the Pearl River estuary. Famous for its gambling industry and its unique blend of Chinese and Portuguese culture, Macao is one of the world's most densely populated regions. Its flag depicts a white lotus on a green field; the lotus stands above a stylized image of the Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge and water, and beneath an arc of five golden stars. The same design elements appear on the region's emblem, though in a circular setting. The white lotus was chosen as Macao's floral emblem to represent the characteristics of the people of Macao, which grow in mud but remain untainted.

The mostly non-violent revolution that, on 25 April 1974, put an end to nearly 50 years of dictatorship in Portugal is known as the Carnation Revolution ("Revolução dos Cravos"). Though it began as a military coup by officers who opposed the regime, the revolution was also enthusiastically backed by a large part of the civilian population. The association with carnations stems from the actions of restaurant worker and left-wing activist Celeste Caeiro, who handed out red carnations (also a symbol of the labour movement) to soldiers and put flowers in the muzzle of their guns - an example followed by many of the insurgents.

Anglo-Irish writer Oscar Wilde was known for his flamboyant lifestyle as well as his keen wit. Before his trial and subsequent disgrace, he was one of London's premier fashion arbiters, whose manner of dress attracted criticism and admiration in equal measure. One of his quirks - captured in a number of photographic portraits - was wearing a dyed green carnation as a boutonnière. Satirical writer Robert Hichens wrote a novel titled "The Green Carnation", published in 1894, in which he gently poked fun at Wilde and his circle. There is also a song from Noel Coward's 1929 operetta "Bitter Sweet", another parody of the turn-of-the-century dandy's lifestyle, titled "We All Wear a Green Carnation".

In 1908, Anna Maria Jarvis, a social activist based in Pennsylvania, founded Mother's Day in honour of her own mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, who had died three years earlier. The first official celebration was held on 10 May of that year at Andrews Episcopalian Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia - now the International Mother's Day Shrine. Though she did not attend the service, Jarvis sent five hundred white carnations to be given to the attendees. The white carnation was chosen as an emblem of the holiday because, according to Jarvis herself, it symbolized the "truth, purity and broad charity of mother love". Since then, carnations have been associated with Mother's Day, which in 1914 was officially recognized as a national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson.

Lilium candidum, the white or Madonna lily, bears large, pure white flowers with a sweet fragrance, which are a very popular choice for wedding floral arrangements. Because of its pristine whiteness, this beautiful flower has become a symbol of purity and chastity in the iconography of the Catholic Church. In many medieval and Renaissance paintings of the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel hands a white lily to the Virgin Mary. The white lily is also an attribute of saints venerated for their chastity and virginity, such as Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony of Padua, and the Native American Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, known as the "Lily of the Mohawks".

Lilies also associated with the restoration of the soul to a state of innocence - hence their frequent presence at funerals - and the resurrection of Christ. In fact, their bulbs are hidden beneath the earth, but bloom around the time Easter is celebrated. Another species of white lily, Lilium longiflorum, native to Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands, is known as the Easter lily, and is widely used in Christian churches to adorn the altar during Eastertide. These flowers' trumpet-like shape also evokes the joyous announcement of Christ's resurrection on Easter morning.

One of the most iconic heraldic symbols is the fleur-de-lis ("lily flower"), the stylized shape of a lily (or, according to some sources, an iris) that was depicted on the coat of arms of France for many centuries. The symbol is traditionally linked to the conversion of King Clovis I, who united the Franks in the early 6th century AD. Three gold fleur-de-lis appear on the arms of the House of Bourbon, which ruled the country from the late 16th century to the French Revolution and later. The arms of Canada, Spain, Québec and the US city of New Orleans all bear the three gold fleur-de-lis that represent their ties to France and the French royal house.