LA CES Quiz for Native Species, Cultivars, and Hybrids: What's Best for My Garden?

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1. What does the term cultivar describe? *

10 points

A plant species that has been prized by various cults.

Any plant that has been given a cute name by a nursery to make it sell better.

A plant variety that has been selected or hybridized for certain features; most can be propagated only via cloning.

A plant variety that was originally grown by a nursery in the Netherlands.

2. Hybridization among plants *

10 points

Never happens in the wild and can only occur through human interference.

Is a complex process that involves high-tech gene editing.

Always results in offspring that are completely infertile and will never be able to produce viable seed.

Can happen between sub-species, species within the same genus, and even between species in different but closely related genera.

3. What year was the Plant Patent Act signed into law? *

10 points

1930 (made to create a financial incentive for nurseries to invest in plant breeding programs).

It has existed since colonial times.

2017 (it is a little-known act from the Trump era).

1983 (made so companies could patent crop varieties created via genetic engineering).

4. In order to be patentable, a plant variety must be: *

10 points

Grown from a tuber.

Asexually propagated via cuttings, grafting, budding, etc.

An interspecific hybrid.

Created after 1930.

5. What changes in flower form can diminish its value as a food source to pollinators? *

10 points

Color

Double-petals

Shape

All of the above: any of these changes may reduce the amount or quality of pollen or nectar available or remove it altogether.

6. What traits selected for make plant unpalatable or unrecognizable as food to leaf-eating insects? *

10 points

A change in leaf color to red, purple, or blue

Dwarf form

Less aggressive spread

Cold tolerance

7. For most native cultivars on the market, little to no research has been done to assess their ecological value as compared to the straight-species or wild type plant *

10 points

True

False

8. Why is it a bad idea for the horticulture industry to start selling sterile cultivars of Japanese barberry—an invasive plant known to be ecologically harmful—instead of just banning the species outright? *

10 points

Sterile and non-sterile varieties can be hard to distinguish on sight, making it impossible for consumers or regulars to verify what is being sold.

Many native shrub species offer similar landscape adaptability and beautiful aesthetics while also having ecological value

Organisms that humans engineer to be sterile do not always remain so—has no one seen Jurassic Park?

Lyme disease carrying ticks are more prevalent in areas with abundant Japanese barberry

All of the above

9. The area of land in the U.S. that has been converted to human-managed landscapes composed of primarily non-native ornamental plants is approximately equal to: *

10 points

The amount of land currently in corn production.

An area the size of the state of Massachusetts.

All of the national and state parks combined.

A and C

All of the above

10. Of these options below, which has the MOST positive impact for any gardener or landscaper seeking to create ecologically vibrant and resilient plantings, while still having to procure plants from a market that still prizes human cultural and aesthetic preferences above all else: *

10 points

Prioritizing the use of an eastern U.S. native species, including cultivars or hybrids, whenever possible.

Continuing to select non-native plants when native alternatives are available.

Prioritizing the use of ecoregion appropriate species, including seed grown plants when possible; aiming to have at least 70% of the plants in your landscape be native.

Prioritizing the use of straight-species/ wild type plants when possible; consulting available information on the ecological value of a cultivar before selecting it.

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