50 Interesting Plant Facts for Kids

The amazing world of plants is filled with exciting and fun facts that are waiting to be explored. If you are keen to fire your child’s imagination with interesting information, get ready to get surprised by plants facts even you aren’t aware of.

50 Fun Facts about Plants for Children

Heard about weird species like Venus flytrap or poison ivy? The following information about plants for kids is a veritable treat for those who love interesting facts related to the magnificent plant kingdom:

1. We human beings use more than 2000 different types of plants to create various delicious food items in our meals.
2. Bamboo is an extremely rapid growing plant. In fact, some bamboo varieties can grow almost a metre (about 3.2 feet) in a single day.
3. Caffeine works as a pesticide in a coffee plant.
4. Apple’s volume consists of 25% air which is why it floats on water.
5. More than 85% of plant life is found in the ocean.  
   
   
6. Poison Ivy produces a skin irritant known as urushiol which can cause an allergic reaction like an itchy rash on the exposed skin.
7. Many plants are carnivores like the Venus Flytrap and eat tiny little insects and spiders to gain useful nutrients.
8. In order to help plants to grow, fertilisers are added to the soil or sprayed on them. Manure, which is actually animal waste is a fertiliser too.
9. Gingko Biloba which dates to about 250 million years ago is the oldest living tree species in the world.
10. Banana is actually an Arabic word for fingers.
    
11. Cabbage has 91% water content.
12. There are more than 300,000 plant species identified till date and the list is constantly expanding.
13. Plant matter which settles down at the base of water bodies like swamps etc. can turn into coal through a process is known as metamorphosis.
14. Plants convert carbon dioxide, water and minerals into food when they use energy from sunlight and this process is known as photosynthesis.
15. Tree resin often contains plant material or tiny insects that are trapped within.
    
16. Oak trees do not produce acorns until they become 50 years old.
17. The African tree, Baobab can store 1000 to 120,000 litres of water in its tree trunk.
18. Lightning is known to strike oak trees more than any other tree.
19. A cluster of bananas is known as a hand and consists of 10 to 20 bananas which are known as fingers.
20. A cucumber is not a vegetable. It is a fruit as it has seeds.
    
21. Elephant grass found in Africa is named so because it can grow up to 4.5 metres, which is high enough to hide an elephant in it.
22. Your potato fries will be healthier if the skin is left on it as all the nutrients are in its skin.
23. Bananas contain a natural chemical that makes people feel happy.
24. Apples, onions and potatoes have the same taste. Test this by closing your nose while eating them.
25. The first potatoes were cultivated in Peru about 7000 years ago.
    
26. The country Brazil is named after a tree
27. An average-sized tree can provide wood enough to make 170000 pencils.
28. Rafflesia grows over three feet in diameter and is the largest flower in the world.
29. Avocados and tomatoes are actually fruits.
30. Algae and mushrooms are not plants but have their own kingdom.                           
    
    
31. About 600 species of carnivorous plants eat small animals and insects too.
32. More than 20% of the world’s oxygen supply is produced by the Amazon Rainforest.
33. Baseball bats are created from the Hickory tree while cricket bats from Willow trees.
34. Onions contain sulphuric acid which causes tears when we cut them. The tears produced is how the body washes it away from the eyes.
35. Onions can make you sleepy if you eat too many at a time since they act as natural sedatives.
    
36. A carnivorous plant in the Philippines is capable of devouring a full-grown rat alive.
37. Around 70000 plant species are being utilized all over the world for medicines.
38. Plants can be used as natural dyes. For example, tea bags or walnut juice can be used to colour cloth.
39. Chemicals released from freshly-cut grass can be highly effective to relieve stress.
40. Dandelion can be eaten whole, right from its roots up to the petals.
    
41. England’s Alnwick Garden has The Poison Garden that is filled with plants which can kill you.
42. All teas, white, black and green, come from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis, only the processing methods are different.
43. Plant roots are covered with root hairs that are used to absorb minerals and water.
44. Onions contain a mild antibiotic which can fight infections, relieves itching, soothes burns and is useful against bee stings too.
45. Water travels in the upward direction from the roots to its stem and then into the plant leaves.
    
46. There are no flower species that are completely black in colour nor has anyone been able to develop it.
47. 96% of raw cucumber and 84% of a raw apple is water.
48. The drug Quinine is obtained from the dried bark of a South-American native tree.
49. Snapdragon flowers resemble a dragon and its mouth can open and close when it is squeezed from its sides.
50. Strawberry is the only fruit that has seeds on the outside. It has about an average of 200 seeds.
    The exciting plant kingdom is a wonderful place to spend time with, whether you are a child or an adult. It surely makes for some interesting conversation with kids as you ply them with fun facts about plants.