Nuts about seeds?

Enter our quiz to win The Book of Seeds by Paul Smith. We have five books to win worth £30 each! Answers in our June issue

1

Evergreen tree whose distinctive star-shaped fruit have culinary uses. The Ancient Chinese also used the fruits to treat low libido. Contains anethole – the main ingredient in French mulled wine.

2

Member of climbing orchid family. Used by Aztecs to flavour ‘xocolatl’ – their drinking chocolate. Now used mainly to flavour cakes, custard and liqueurs, and to fragrance cigars and candles.

3

Beautiful perennial with silky petals and tiny seeds dispersed by wind from a swollen pod. The pods contain a source of morphine; the Latin species name refers to its sleep-inducing properties.

4

Perennial shrub with attractive palmate foliage. Spiky red fruits contain smooth seeds that produce a toxic oil, made safe by heating during extraction. Gardeners love the red-leaved cultivars.

5

Invasive European aquatic plant that floats in slow-moving water. Leaves have toothed edges. Fruits are shaped like a bull’s head and eaten raw or roasted, or ground to make flour.

6

Herbaceous perennial cultivated as a food crop. Its petioles (leaf stems) were harvested by the ancient Chinese to treat fever and skin lesions. Force plants in late winter for improved flavour.

7

Bright blue hardy annual popular in wildflower mixes with fruits resembling a tiny shaving brush. Introduced to the UK in the Iron Age, it’s now rare owing to modern farming practices.

8

Medium-sized evergreen tree from Indonesia. Nuts split open to reveal seeds that can be grated as a fragrant food flavouring, reminiscent of Christmas. The lacy red aril is used to make mace.

9

Exotic orange-andblue flower that looks like a crested tropical bird, introduced into Europe from South Africa in 1773. The black seeds have bright orange arils that attract birds for dispersal.