Q 01/05

Hydrangea flowers that turn blue or pink depending on the soil act as a natural version of what?

A) A moisture meter

B) A pH indicator

C) A soil thermometer

D) A rain gauge

Answer · why

B) A pH indicator

A pH indicator in plant form: blooms come blue at a reading of about 5.5 or lower, pink at 6.5 or higher, and purple in between.

Q 02/05

The name hydrangea comes from Greek words that liken the plant's tiny seed capsules to what?

A) Water vessel

B) Water serpent

C) Water lily

D) Water wheel

Answer · why

A) Water vessel

Water vessel joins the Greek hydor and angeion, a grand name for seed capsules only a few millimetres across.

Q 03/05

The big colourful 'petals' of a mophead hydrangea are not true petals at all but which flower part?

A) Stamens

B) Carpels

C) Sepals

D) Anthers

Answer · why

C) Sepals

Sepals do the showing off on large sterile florets, while the hydrangea's fertile flowers are tiny and tucked out of sight.

Q 04/05

Every part of a hydrangea is mildly poisonous if eaten because the plant holds compounds that release which toxin?

A) Arsenic

B) Strychnine

C) Ricin

D) Cyanide

Answer · why

D) Cyanide

Cyanide is bound up in the plant's cyanogenic glycosides, yet hydrangeas are reportedly sometimes smoked as an intoxicant despite the danger.

Q 05/05

In Japan, a herbal tea brewed from hydrangea leaves is poured over small statues each April to mark whose birthday?

A) The Buddha

B) The Emperor

C) Confucius

D) Prince Shotoku

Answer · why

A) The Buddha

The Buddha is bathed in the tea every April 8, a stand-in for the nectar that nine dragons poured over him at birth in legend.