Garden Trivia

Here are the answers to Grangetto's Garden Trivia questions.

Plant Vocabulary Answer
1. The cucumber produces both male and female flowers on the same plant. True. Even before the buds open the infant fruit is visible behind the future female flower. The male flower on the other hand, produces the stamens with the pollen.
2.You can easily tell the male tomato plants from the female by looking at the underside of the leaf. The male has a “beard,” or heavy fuzz. False. There is no such thing as male and female tomato plants.
3. Some plants are actually pollinated by hummingbirds. True. Hummingbirds carry pollen from flower to flower as they feed on the nectar of many tropical species; even in our temperate climate, the trumpetcreeper is commonly fertilized by these little birds.
4. To get a good crop of squash, it is advisable to remove the sterile buds. False. They are not sterile buds but the future male flowers that produce the pollen necessary for fertilization.
5. Some flowers produce an aroma like rotting flesh to attract insects. True. Not all plants employ bees to carry their pollen; many use flies and beetles, which are attracted by the rather fetid odors. Staphilias are a common example.
6. Some orchid flowers will remain in bloom for weeks if not pollinated, but once fertilization takes place they wither almost immediately. True.
7. More than one variety of apples is needed for a tree to product fruit. True. Very few varieties are self-fertile and require the pollen from a compatible variety; a second tree of the same variety doesn’t help much.
8. Corn is pollinated by the wind rather than bees. True. Corn is the grass family and like most grasses produces millions of pollen grains. Thus, it’s usually better to plant corn in blocks than in single rows.
9. Many plants have no need of bees and are capable of fertilization without any outside assistance. True. Many plants are completely self-fertile.
10. If no pollen is carried to the flowers of most fruit trees, larger, seedless fruit will result. False. Without pollination the ovules are not fertilized, and the plant doesn’t produce fruit at all.