Hello Folks! The quizzes are back (can i hear a Yay! of excitement or a groan of Oh no!)Flowers not only decorate our meadows, our woodlands, our roadsides with splashes of colour, but they also provide food and shelter for a whole host of insects. We have only to look at UK flowers to appreciate their beauty, their scent, their diversity.Each Monday for 12 weeks (and yes I know its Tuesday today - forgive me), I will be posting a little teaser for you. Without looking in books or on the internet (i.e - no cheating), see if you can identify the UK flower. On Wednesday, so as long as no-one has guessed it, I will post one clue. On Friday I will post the answer along with some additional information for your interest.Keep a note of each species, as I will be asking which is the odd one out at the end of the quiz.MYSTERY FLOWER QUIZ#1The nature of my bite is a thorny issue.
Unknown said:Anagram of the latin name perhaps.
Lol!! I'm such a thicko! Never thought about an anagram!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
The answer will blossom tomorrow.
Blimey, I am clearly going to have to make these much harder! Anyhoo, congrats to all of you who guessed Dog rose (Rosa canina). To begin with I’ll break down the clues I gave you. Firstly there was: The nature of my bite is a thorny issue. Well, (some) dogs bite and as a rule most roses have thorns. The second clue was simply an anagram of the latin for Dog rose (Rosa canina).
Dog roses are a deciduous shrub, and as a climbing rose they can grow as high as five metres tall with delicate pale pink flowers that are made up of five petals with a yellow centre. Flowering in June and July, dog roses are often found in hedgerows and like all other roses they have hooked thorns. On maturity Dog rose flowers produce rose-hips which are usually reddy orange in colour.
A picture of a Dog rose can be found here.
Did you know?: The Dog rose is the county flower of Hampshire.
Keep an eye out for next weeks mystery flower.
Take care,
Claire