The exhibition for all senses in Czechia has ended. During the course of it, we advertised the event by a series of riddles on the Facebook page of Prague Botanical Garden. You can find them together in this post.

The answers are at the bottom of the page.

1) Do you know which organism is created by a symbiosis of fungus and alga/cyanobacteria? Thanks to this cooperation, it can live even in very hostile places. It can release mineral substances from rocks and thus create environment for other plants. What is the name of this organism?

2) This crop grown on paddies prospers when it is togehter with a small fern of the genus Azolla. Thanks to symbiosis with cyanobacteria, the fern “fertilizes” the crop with nitrogen fixed from air. What side dish is made from the crop?

3) The orchid seeds are small and look like dust. On the other hand, this palm has the largest seed in the world that stores a lot of supplies. Where does it come from?

4) Fragrant tropical wood which can be used for making various jewelry or perfumes. And also a plant which is hemiparasitic – it takes water and mineral substances from other plants. What is its name?

5) The largest flower in the world that smells like rotting flesh and attracts flies. After pollination, it becomes a “mash” which is spread by animals across the rainforest. To which plant does the flower belong to?

6) Parasitic Tristerix lives inside cacti. Only its fruits and flowers emerge from it. In which country could we find this parasite growing naturally?

7) Some (tropical) plants give home to ants, which in return get them nutrients and protect them. How do we call plants that live in this close relationship with ants?

8) The bat just found its bed. In which plant? Does it harm the plant or is it beneficial for it? Why?

Answers:

1. lichen
2. rice
3. Seychelles
4. sandalwood (Santalum sp.)
5. rafflesia
6. Chile
7. myrmecophytes
8. in Nepenthes hemsleyana, it is mutually beneficial (mutualism) – the bat gets a resting place and the plant gets nitrogen from its feces