Hello Folks! 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 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#12Forgive my blotched lower lip, I'm a hemiparasite!
You won't be the only ones to look foolish with the quiz if your wrong lol
Hope you'r right, I aint the faintest
Ray
a good laugh is better than a tonic
No novelty in me looking foolish,it happens quite often usually my grandson manages to do that and he is not even 3yrs old yet !!
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Unknown said: No worries TJ, I loved your clue .... I was going to add "bunnies" to it !!! Certainly could not have thought of Euphrasia without looking it up. Still don't know whether we are right or not ! Come on Mrs.T. put us all out of our misery LOL
No worries TJ, I loved your clue .... I was going to add "bunnies" to it !!! Certainly could not have thought of Euphrasia without looking it up. Still don't know whether we are right or not ! Come on Mrs.T. put us all out of our misery LOL
We're right aren't we Mrs T - heheheh !!
Well at least we have ruled out "Deadly Nightshade" with the illuminating clue !!
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Regards, Hazel
Not saying a word (darn it, that's 4 too many!!)
LOL Mrs T Watching this space !!!
Congratulations to all of you who guessed Common eyebright (Euphrasia nemorosa). First a bit about the clues, namely: 'Forgive my blotched lower lip, I'm a hemiparasite!' and 'I am usually very illuminating'. The Common eyebright has white flowers that have a yellow blotch on their lower lip, not unlike other Eyebrights. Found on grasslands, the Common eyebright has an interesting survival strategy. It parasites other plants by drawing nutrients from their roots, thus weekening them and subsequently altering the balance of surropunding plant species. 'Usually' in the other clue refers to 'Common' and 'illuminating' to eye bright.
A member of the Orobanchaceae family, Common eyebrights are annual plants of meadows, roadsides and grazed pastures. They are, as their name suggests, the commonest of the eyebrights in England and Wales.
A picture of Common eyebrights can be found here.
Did you know?: Although Eyebrights were well known to herbalists, they were not mentioned until 1305. 17th century English botanist Nicholas Culpeper claimed it could strengthen the brain, but it was also used for eye complaints, sore throats and hay fever.
So from all of the 12 plants how many of you guessed the odd one out?
Take care,
Claire
Well, I'd never have guessed it without researching (otherwise known as cheating). It's a very pretty flower but I don't think I've ever (knowingly) seen it.
I thought the odd one out was going to be Dragon's Teeth which had the name of a mythical creature whereas all the others had real critters. However, it seems that Eyebright must be the one unless you are being particularly devious, Mrs T, and there's an obscure connection to rabbits via Eyebright= Brighteyes. LOL
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Thanks for pushing us towards Eyebright TJ until the I never realised it was a hemiparasite,must get into plants more.
Well done TJ! Think this one has to be the odd one out too!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr