There is just time for a little quiz before we all get busy with Spring doings. As always; try and answer them without looking up the answer, as I will provide the answers in a few days. Feel welcome to tell us how many correct answers you had right. Are you ready? Ladies and gentlemen…let’s begin. Tree ID 1- 2- 3- 3- 5- 6- Plant Knowledge 7- What is this plant? 8- Do you get more blooms if you prune a Lavender plant? Yes or No 9- What is this plant? 10- This is the fruit of what plant? Insect Knowledge 11- ID this. 12- Are the bumble bees that you see in the Summer the same size as those you see in the Spring? 13- Is this a male or female Damselfly? 14- What is the story on that little nobby structure on this Cranefly? 15- What is going on with these holy leaves?
Wild guesses... #1 might be a variety of pine. Or not, LOL. #2 might be a variety of birch. Or not. #3 might be a linden. Or not. #4 looks like Liquidamber (I love that name), #5 could almost be silver maple. #7 looks like myosotis. #9 looks like lupine. #10 looks like Lunaria ( oh, I think I got one right,) I'll guess #15 was leaf cutter bees. Thanks @Sjoerd for a real brain exercise!
Just having a quick peek at this....saw a Birch in #2 I believe. And Crane Flys....my oldest's partner is an Entomologist and I only learned two years ago that the Crane Fly was not a giant male mosquito. What a relief education brings. I felt pretty foolish. I'd like to know the answer to that one.
Answers to 2023 Winter/Spring Quiz 1/2: 1- Pine 2- Paper Birch 3- Beech 4- American Sweetgum 5- White Maple 6- Aspin 7- Forget-me-not 8- Lavender— it does not matter if you prune or not; however, if you do prune you ought to have more flowers because they bloom primarily on new growth. 9- Lupine. 10- Honesty 11- Lacewing 12- Bumblebees seen in the spring are the much larger females looking for a place to begin a colony. The smaller ones are the female workers. 13- Damselfly (Banded demoiselle)— it is a male. You see that by the spots on it’s wings. 14- the Cranefly gas the little nobs on either side. They were once wings but over the centuries the unnecessary second set of wings now function as stabilizers when they are flying. 15- Leaf disfiguration is due to the Leaf-cutter solitary bee. The answers to the second part of the quiz will be given on its own thread (2/2).
Let’s see… Cherry tree , white paper birch, Doug fir…white pine… They all look familiar my brain is on hold at the moment..
Nice tries! A. Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum B. Quaking Aspen. Populus tremuloides C. Colorado Blue Spruce, South Side. Picea pungens D. Colorado Blue Spruce, North Side. E. Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Except for the aspen, I don't think I would have got these either.
Chortle. If I do another quiz, I am going to ask you to provide some questions. Those north american tree trunks are interesting to see. Thanks for posting them. I think that I could see some of of these in Britain because they have some excellent public and private gardens where trees foreign to Britain are growing. Oh, I forgot to ask— were those trees growing on your property or in your town?
S Sjoerd, those are on my property. I planted some of them. Others were here when I bought the place. I took the photos yesterday. They might have been easier to identify if it was dry.
Daniel— you have some lovely specimens there…and to think you planted some of them. I really like trees, so I am always glad to see new ones. I don’t know if I could have identified your tree trunks even if they were dry. When I saw the names of your trees, I do nok know if I have seen them over here. Never too old to learn. Thanks again.
I like trees too. My parents used to say I was a reincarnated Druid because I respect trees so much. On my property, I've planted multiple ginkgos, four Tilia cordata, two big maples, the dawn redwood, four hybrid chestnut trees (Castania), two Mexican windmill palms, two aspens, some oaks, a mulberry, a Tasmanian alpine eucalyptus, many willows... I'm a bit crazy LOL. Many have been starts from cuttings or seeds. The evergreens came with the place. Unfortunately I removed some due to fire hazards. Life in the 2020s.
