Prairie Wildflowers Quiz

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Date:

Instructions: The great prairies of North America host stunning wildflowers! How well do you know these hardy grassland beauties?

1.
Which tall prairie flower has a dark, cone-shaped center disk and drooping yellow petals?
A
Coneflower (Ratibida)
B
Sunflower
C
Black-Eyed Susan
D
Goldenrod
2.
What purple-flowered prairie plant is essential for monarch butterfly caterpillars?
A
Blazing Star
B
Milkweed
C
Prairie Clover
D
Purple Coneflower
3.
Which prairie wildflower has dense spikes of purple flowers that bloom from the top down?
A
Prairie Gentian
B
Ironweed
C
Blazing Star (Liatris)
D
Wild Indigo
4.
What is the name of the purple coneflower used both as a garden perennial and herbal supplement?
A
Rudbeckia
B
Gaillardia
C
Echinacea
D
Helianthus
5.
Which prairie wildflower is also called "Blanket Flower" for its red and yellow bicolor pattern?
A
Indian Paintbrush
B
Coreopsis
C
Zinnia
D
Gaillardia
6.
What percentage of original North American tallgrass prairie remains today?
A
About 50%
B
About 25%
C
Less than 4%
D
About 75%
7.
Which early spring prairie flower has a fuzzy, crocus-like bloom that appears before its leaves?
A
Spring Beauty
B
Pasque Flower
C
Prairie Smoke
D
Prairie Violet
8.
What prairie plant has distinctive wispy, smoke-like seed heads that give it its common name?
A
Old Man's Whiskers
B
Smoke Bush
C
Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
D
Both names refer to the same plant
9.
Which showy prairie wildflower has tubular red-orange flowers and attracts hummingbirds?
A
Cardinal Flower
B
Indian Paintbrush
C
Royal Catchfly
D
Standing Cypress
10.
What native prairie plant turns a beautiful blue color and belongs to the legume family?
A
Blue Flax
B
Wild Blue Indigo (Baptisia)
C
Spiderwort
D
Prairie Gentian
11.
Which tall, late-summer prairie flower was an important food source for Native Americans who ate its tubers?
A
Compass Plant
B
Cup Plant
C
Prairie Dock
D
Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
12.
The Compass Plant gets its name because its leaves tend to orient themselves in which direction?
A
North-South
B
East-West
C
Toward the nearest water
D
Toward the sun
13.
Which purple-flowered prairie clover has roots that can reach 15 feet deep?
A
Red Clover
B
Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)
C
Crimson Clover
D
White Prairie Clover
14.
What role do controlled prairie burns play in maintaining wildflower health?
A
They remove dead growth and stimulate new growth from roots
B
They only benefit grasses, not flowers
C
They are harmful and should be avoided
D
They destroy all plant life
15.
Which cheerful yellow prairie flower is also called "Tickseed" and blooms throughout summer?
A
Coreopsis
B
Sunflower
C
Goldenrod
D
Black-Eyed Susan

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