On Wednesday, March 6, the Orillia Naturalists’ Club held a Botany Quiz, a fun way to learn to identify the flowers that you see when you when you walk in the places you love. This has been a long winter – the snow arrived while the leaves were still falling, and has never left us. These photos were a break from winter. (yes, we know the snow is beautiful, but..). The photos were provided from the collection of Margo Holt, an avid amateur botanist, who died in 2013.
In a Power Point presentation 46 plants were shown, either 4 or 2 at a time. 10 teams discussed and attempted to name them. They were all common plants, but some were taken from unusual angles or at unexpected times of the year. Following that, the same flowers were shown with the names attached.
Sue Deadman gave an interesting fact about one of the flowers on each slide. Did you know that Poison Ivy is not a true ivy , but rather a member of the cashew and pistachio family, and it has white berries seen in the autumn and winter.
Every team recognized a field of White Trilliums, or the spectacular Cardinal flower, but some were more unusual. There was a printed list of possibilities to choose from. The winning team knew 45, the most honest team admitted to 13.
It was a fun competition, but there were prizes. The prize winners are shown in the photo.
This quiz was organized by Denis Paccagnella, Sue Deadman and Nancy Ironside.
 |
 |
| Trying to decide | The prize winners:Steve Huband, Tanya Clark, Peter Hayward, Carol Strickland, Warren Ryckman, Donald MacDonald, Fern Splichal, Joan Rosebush, Gloria Tozek, Alex Sinclair, Carolyn Paccagnella, Kyra Howes |
 |
 |
| The prizes | Mary Joe, Fern and Heather at coffee break |
| Photos from Tanya Clarke |
