Flora — Plants & Trees
1. TRUE OR FALSE: Almond trees grow their leaves before their flowers appear.
True / False
Answer: False — almond blossom famously appears on bare branches in January/February, well before the leaves.
2. Olive trees in Mallorca can live for how long?
Answer: C) 1,000 years — several of Mallorca's ancient olive trees (e.g. the famous "Can Det" tree) are documented at over 1,000 years old.
3. TRUE OR FALSE: Pine trees encourage other plants to grow around them by enriching the soil.
True / False
Answer: False — the opposite is generally true: fallen pine needles acidify the soil and suppress the growth of many other plants underneath.
4. Why do olive leaves look silvery on one side?
Answer: B) Tiny hairs that reflect sunlight — the underside is covered in fine silvery hairs that also help the tree conserve water.
5. TRUE OR FALSE: Many of the flowers around Pollença turn purple every spring because it is the colour bees are most attracted to.
True / False
Answer: True — bees see blue/purple wavelengths especially well, and Mediterranean spring flowers (lavender, rosemary, borage) lean heavily purple for this reason.
Fauna — Birds, Animals & Sea Life
6. Mallorca is home to one of Europe's largest and rarest birds of prey. Which one?
Answer: B) Black Vulture — Europe's largest bird of prey (up to 3m wingspan), and Mallorca hosts the only breeding population on any island in the world.
7. TRUE OR FALSE: The hoopoe — the bird with the orange crown of feathers — appears on Mallorca's coat of arms.
True / False
Answer: False — the hoopoe is a well-loved winter/resident bird on the island, but it doesn't feature on Mallorca's official coat of arms.
8. How old can a single meadow of posidonia, the seagrass that grows beneath the surface of the Mediterranean around Mallorca, be?
Answer: B) 100,000 years — posidonia meadows spread by cloning themselves, so a single connected meadow can be genetically one plant, among the oldest living organisms on Earth.
9. TRUE OR FALSE: Dolphins are seen every day in the municipality of Pollença.
True / False
Answer: False — dolphins (mainly bottlenose) do visit the Bay of Pollença and surrounding waters regularly, but sightings are frequent rather than a daily guarantee.
10. The Mallorcan midwife toad is found nowhere else on earth. Where does it live?
Answer: C) Mountain streams in the Serra de Tramuntana — the ferreret lives only in seasonal torrents and pools inside the mountains' limestone canyons.
Geography — The Land & Sea
11. Which world-famous writer described the Bay of Pollença as having "the exquisite vagueness of a Japanese print" in the misty haze of a fine morning?
Answer: B) Agatha Christie — the line is from her short story "Problem at Pollensa Bay," describing the view from her hotel on the Pine Walk.
12. How many steps lead up to the Calvari chapel above Pollença?
Answer: C) 365 — one step for each day of the year, flanked by cypress trees, leading up to the Calvari chapel.
13. Dionís painted the Serra de Tramuntana at different times of day. What colour do the limestone mountains turn as the sun is setting?
Answer: C) Pink and gold — the low sun makes the pale limestone of the Tramuntana glow pink and gold, a well-known effect Dionís captured often in his paintings.
14. The highest mountain in the Balearic Islands is in the Serra de Tramuntana. What is it called?
Answer: B) Puig Major — at 1,436m it's the highest peak in the Balearic Islands (its very summit is a military zone, closed to the public).
15. TRUE OR FALSE: The hill above Pollença that everyone calls Puig de Maria was known to the Arabs as "Maria" before the Christians arrived and built a chapel there in 1355.
True / False
Answer: Maybe — a bit of a trick question. The hill's known Arabic name was "Almaira" (meaning fortress), not "Maria," so strictly it wasn't called "Maria." But the two names sound so alike that the similarity may well have made it easier for the later Christian "Maria" name and legend to take hold. The chapel itself was completed in 1355.
