Scientific Names of Plants and Animals Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The botanical name of teak is Tectona grandis.

Teak (sagaun), Tectona grandis, is the most valuable timber tree of Madhya Pradesh, which has the largest area of teak forest in the country.

Acacia nilotica is babul, Prosopis cineraria is khejri, and Shorea robusta is sal.

Teak is valued for its durability, resistance to termites and attractive grain; its timber is used for furniture, ship building and doors, and it is grown both in natural forests and in plantations across central and southern India.

Answer: C

The scientific name of khair is Acacia catechu.

Khair, Acacia catechu (now also called Senegalia catechu), yields katha (cutch), obtained by boiling its heartwood, which is eaten with paan and used in tanning and dyeing.

Bauhinia purpurea is a kachnar, Acacia arabica is babul, and Morus alba is the white mulberry.

Khair is a common tree of the dry deciduous forests of Madhya Pradesh, and its heartwood is extracted under licence; illegal felling of khair for katha is a well-known forest offence.

Answer: D

The correct matching is (a)-(ii), (b)-(iv), (c)-(i), (d)-(iii).

1. Acacia catechu (printed catechy) is khair, the source of katha.
2. Diospyros melanoxylon is tendu, whose leaves wrap bidis.
3. Tectona grandis is teak.
4. Shorea robusta is sal.

Option A pairs khair with sal, option B pairs tendu with teak, and option C pairs khair with tendu; each misplaces at least two botanical names.

Answer: C

The correct matching is (a)-3, (b)-4, (c)-2, (d)-1.

• Madhuca indica (mahua): Sapotaceae (3).
• Tectona grandis (teak): Verbenaceae (4) in the older classification; it is now placed in Lamiaceae.
• Shorea robusta (sal): Dipterocarpaceae (2).
• Butea monosperma (palas, flame of the forest): Fabaceae (1), the legume family.

The other codes swap sal and palas, or place mahua in the wrong family, so only (a)-3, (b)-4, (c)-2, (d)-1 is right.

Answer: A

The 'Indian Kapok' tree is Bombax ceiba.

Bombax ceiba, the red silk-cotton tree or semal, bears large capsules filled with silky floss around the seeds. The floss is light and buoyant and is used to stuff pillows, mattresses and life jackets, which is why the tree is called Indian kapok. The true kapok tree is the related Ceiba pentandra.

Calotropis gigantea (aak) has floss on its seeds too but is a shrub, not the kapok tree. Grewia tiliifolia (dhaman) is valued for its timber, not floss.

Answer: D

The botanical name of Sarpagandha is Rauvolfia serpentina.

Sarpagandha, or Indian snakeroot, is a medicinal shrub whose roots contain reserpine and related alkaloids, used to lower blood pressure and as a sedative.

Withania somnifera is Ashwagandha, Gymnema sylvestre is Gurmar, used in diabetes, and Pinus sylvestris is the Scots pine.

Answer: A

It represents the species.

The second word is the specific epithet, written in lower case, and it identifies the species within its genus. It is never used alone - sapiens means nothing without Homo.

Answer: B

It is Helianthus annuus.

Helianthus means sun flower in Greek and annuus annual. Young sunflower buds track the sun through the day, but the mature flower head stops moving and faces east.

Answer: D

It is the amaltas.

Cassia fistula is the golden shower tree, which hangs with long racemes of yellow flowers before the monsoon. It is the state flower of Kerala, where it is the kanikonna of Vishu.

Answer: C

They are the genus and species.

Linnaeus's system gives every organism a two-part Latin name: the genus capitalised, the specific epithet in lower case, both italicised - Homo sapiens, Panthera tigris. The genus is shared with close relatives; the pair together is unique.