Flora Prima Donnas Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bat flower

Bat flowers (or bat plants) come in different colors. The most famous is the black bat flower (Tacca chantrieri), but there is also the white bat flower (Tacca integrifolia). Bat flowers are named so because their shape resembles that of a bat. They can grow quite large in size, since the filaments can become over 30 inches (75 cm) long and the flowers over 12 inches (30 cm) wide.

Their whiskers may also grow very long, reaching all the way to the ground sometimes. Bat plants are indigenous to tropical areas around the world, and need to kept in temperatures higher than 40-50 F (ca. 5-15 C).

However, they don't like the sun and it is better to keep them in a humid and shaded environment.

Answer: Monkey face orchid

The monkey face orchid is sometimes simply called monkey orchid, but it shares that version of its name with a few other flowers. It is a very rare flower that grows only in forests in Peru and Ecuador at an altitude of 2000-3000 feet (ca. 600-900 m).

The monkey face orchid is extremely difficult to cultivate. Even if you can find genuine seeds of this flower, which are usually as small as dust specks, it needs to interact with specific fungi in order to grow. As for its scientific name, it really is Dracula simia.

The endings of the petals droop down in a manner that resembles fangs (alluding to the genus Dracula), and the flower itself looks remarkably like a monkey's face, hence the 'simia'. A quick online search will definitely give you a better idea of just how appropriately named this flower is.

Answer: Morning glory

The morning glory species belong in the family Convolvulaceae (don't try spelling this at home), and get their name from the fact that they bloom in the morning. However, there are morning glory flowers that bloom at different times, even during the night.

The most popular colors among morning glory species are blue and purple, but there are also pink and white. Morning glories grow in different climates and are cultivated all over the world.

Answer: Naked man orchid

The naked man orchid is sometimes referred to as the hanging man orchid or the Italian orchid, which is also its scientific name (Orchis italica). It is indigenous to many different areas around the Mediterranean and grows in clusters of flowers with shades that range from light purple and white to dark purple.

Its tube-like root can be ground into a flour called salep, which in turn is used to make the homonymous drink.

Answer: Devil's hand

This flower grows on a tree and has the scientific name Chiranthodendron pentadactylon, which can loosely be translated from Greek as "hand-flower tree's five fingers". Indeed, the devil's hand flower looks like a disturbing red hand with outstretched claws.

It is native to Mexico and Guatemala, and it was used by the Aztecs in various herbal remedies. The tree itself requires some humidity in the climate to grow and it can reach even up to 90 feet (30 m).

Answer: Bee orchid

The bee orchid is a flower that grows mainly in Mediterranean areas, but also in central and north Europe. It grows up to half a meter tall, and the lip of the flower resembles a female bee. The northern species usually self-pollinate, but in Mediterranean regions the flowers are pollinated by the males of a bee species which mistakes the looks and scent of the flower for that of a female bee.

The male bee collects pollen from one flower and then transfers it to the next one it visits. That's right, even plants can trick males.

Answer: Parrot flower

The parrot flower (Impatiens psittanica) is a species of balsam that resembles a parrot or cockatoo in flight. It has a purple body and a red edge shaped like a parrot's head, and one can find it in Thailand and other parts of southeast Asia. The exportation of the parrot flower has been banned by the government of Thailand because it is very rare.

In fact, because it was widely unknown, when photos of parrot flowers first appeared on the Internet, they were initially dismissed as a hoax.

Answer: Corpse flowers

Corpse flowers are also commonly known as carrion flowers. These two names are not given to a specific species, but rather many different flowers which have an odor of rotting meat. This odor attracts insects such as carrion flies and beetles in order to pollinate the corpse flowers. One genus of corpse flowers is Amorphophallus, which has several hundred species that are native to the Indonesian rainforests.

Another corpse flower genus is Rafflesia, which is indigenous to the rainforests of Borneo.

Answer: Hammer orchids

Hammer orchids can be found only in southwest Australia. Pollination of hammer orchids occurs in a manner similar to that of the bee orchids described previously. In this case, the lip of the hammer orchid resembles a female wasp (but also the head of a hammer) and mimics its scent, attracting the male wasps to it.

The pollen sticks to the wasp, and pollination is achieved when it visits another flower. There are only ten species of hammer orchids, and unfortunately many of them are under threat of extinction.

Answer: Skeleton flower

Diphylleia grayi would probably be more aptly named ghost flower, but the name skeleton flower still sounds impressive enough. Its petals are white and opaque, but when rain falls on them, they become transparent because they are very thin. After the petals dry, they become white again.

The skeleton flower can be found in mountainous areas in China and Japan, and it prefers a shaded, cold environment.