Wars fought over plants
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Wars Fought Over Plants — Daily trivia Wednesday, April 8, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01The Opium Wars were fought primarily between Great Britain and which Asian empire?
- AQing Dynasty
- BOttoman Empire
- CMughal Empire
- DEdo Japan
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Qing Dynasty
The Opium Wars (1839–1842 and 1856–1860) were a series of conflicts between Great Britain and the Qing Dynasty of China, primarily over the British illegal opium trade into China and China's attempts to suppress it.
Q 02In the 14th century, noblemen hijacked a shipment of which spice bound for Basel, sparking a war named for it?
- APepper
- BCloves
- CSaffron
- DGinger
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Saffron
The scare pushed Basel to grow its own saffron crocuses, and it prospered; in Nuremberg, adulterating saffron could get you executed under the Safranschou code.
Q 03The 'Banana Wars' US interventions in Central America and the Caribbean often protected which type of company?
- ACoffee plantations
- BSugar cane refineries
- CFruit companies
- DTobacco growers
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Fruit companies
US fruit companies such as United Fruit, now Chiquita, and Standard Fruit, now Dole, dominated Honduras's exports, land and railways, and the country inspired the term 'banana republic'.
Q 04By which food nickname is the Aroostook 'War' over the Maine–New Brunswick border also known?
- AThe Maple Syrup War
- BThe Pork and Beans War
- CThe Codfish War
- DThe Cranberry War
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The Pork and Beans War
The Pork and Beans War saw militias called out on both sides but never fighting; Maine voted $800,000 for defence, and the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842 drew the line.
Q 05Under the Treaty of Breda, England gave up the spice island Run and kept which island seized from the Dutch?
- ABarbados
- BSaint Helena
- CCuraçao
- DManhattan
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Manhattan
Manhattan was the island England kept; once in possession of Run, the Dutch killed or enslaved its men and felled every spice tree so the English could never profit from retaking it.
Q 06Which tree-derived commodity drove rivalries between European colonial powers in 17th-century Ceylon?
- ACinnamon
- BCoffee
- CCacao
- DRubber
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Cinnamon
Cinnamon was the prize: Portuguese traders held Ceylon's monopoly for over a century, until the Dutch took control of the trade by 1640 and expelled the Portuguese by 1658.
Q 07Demand for which tree product drew Portuguese, then Dutch, traders to Timor?
- AMahogany
- BSandalwood
- CTeak
- DRosewood
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Sandalwood
Sandalwood was Timor's main commodity and drew the Portuguese in the 16th century; the Dutch later took the island's western part, and it stayed divided for centuries.
Q 08Which plant was the source of quinine, sparking colonial competition over its cultivation?
- ACoca
- BCinchona
- CRubber
- DOpium Poppy
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Cinchona
Cinchona bark is still the only economical supply of quinine: chemists first synthesized it in 1944, but no synthesis could compete with bark from plantations like Java's.
Q 09Which spice, grown only on the Banda Islands, drove the Dutch East India Company's massacre there?
- ACloves
- BBlack pepper
- CGinger
- DNutmeg
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Nutmeg
Nutmeg and its sister spice mace grew only on the Banda Islands, and in 1621 the Dutch East India Company under Jan Pieterszoon Coen killed or expelled most islanders to control it.
Q 10What did Godoy send his queen from outside Elvas, giving Spain's 1801 invasion of Portugal its name?
- AFigs
- BOranges
- COlives
- DLemons
Show answer
Oranges
Godoy sent the oranges to Queen Maria Luisa, allegedly his lover; Portugal lost Olivenza in the peace and still disputes it.
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