The ABC game

want some goatheads?

Tribulus terrestris is a taprooted herbaceous perennial plant that grows as a summer annual in colder climates. The stems radiate from the crown to a diameter of about 10 cm to over 1 m, often branching. They are usually prostrate, forming flat patches, though they may grow more upwards in shade or among taller plants. The leaves are pinnately compound with leaflets less than 6 mm (a quarter-inch) long. The flowers are 4–10 mm wide, with five lemon-yellow petals. A week after each flower blooms, it is followed by a fruit that easily falls apart into four or five single-seeded nutlets. The nutlets or "seeds" are hard and bear two to three sharp spines, 10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble goats' or bulls' heads; the "horns" are sharp enough to puncture bicycle tires and lawn mower tires and to cause painful injury to bare feet.[7]

Umm, I'll pass on this weed.
 
Uncinia rubra, also known as Red Hook Sedge.

Uncinia are evergreen tufted perennials with narrowly linear leaves and dark brown flower-spikes, followed by hooked fruits

U. rubra is a tufted, evergreen, perennial sedge to 30cm, with glossy reddish-green or red-brown leaves and dark brown to black flower spikes in summer.

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http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1980
 
Wisteria is one of the world's most popular climbers. This hardy plant is quick to establish itself and is ideal if you want to create shade or cover quickly in the garden.

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Zigadenus Elegans, better known as Mountain Death Camus, is an unusual plant, with greenish white blossoms arranged around a slender stalk with grass like blades at the base. It is a poisonous plant and children and pets should be supervised where these plants are to be found. They tend to grow in moist locations. This plant grows on our property and I used to pull them all diligently but have since observed that my horses will not eat them and spit them out immediately if they should get one in their mouth with a bit of grass. As I have no small children about, I now tolerate them to grow for they are actually quite an elegant flower.

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Choose another category, Arne, for I am always interested to learn about new subjects.
 
Pretty as poison, and elegant, which I knew from its name. And that shall be our next challenge: binomial nomenclature, flora, fauna, fungi, what have you. Give the Latin name, a nice picture so we know what the thing actually is, an explanation if we still don't know what it is, a wise crack or two (optional).

Acinonyx Jubatus

You got the jump Madam S with Zigadenus Elegans. Good one. But here's another 'pretty dangerous' creature:

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What, some of you still don't get it?

Hint: Tarzan's chimp's name.
 
Bison bison, also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds, became nearly extinct by a combination of commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle, and has made a recent resurgence largely restricted to a few national parks and reserves. Their historical range roughly comprised a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in Canada's far northwest, south to the Mexican states of Durango and Nuevo León, and east to the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States (nearly to the Atlantic tidewater in some areas) from New York to Georgia and per some sources down to Florida.[2][3]

Two subspecies or ecotypes have been described: the plains bison (Bison bison bison), smaller in size and with a more rounded hump, and the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae)—the larger of the two and having a taller, square hump.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Furthermore, it has been suggested that the plains bison consists of a northern (Bison bison montanae) and a southern subspecies, bringing the total to three.[7] However, this is generally not supported. The wood bison is one of the largest wild species of bovid in the world, surpassed by only the Asian gaur and wild water buffalo. It is the largest extant land animal in the Americas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison

When traveling the Alaska Highway, you may encounter Bison as they enjoy grazing in the road allowance and sometimes even travel along the road. When taking photos, do not use a flash and do not make eye contact with these animals, especially the bulls.

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Unfortunately, I can't see your picture of bison bison. Did I mention you get extra points for a double same name like that? Even more for a triple one.

Anyway, I've got Crocodilia Niloticus

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This picture reminds me of the part of Kipling's story, The Elephant's Child' in which "filled with insatiable curiosity" the young pachyderm journeys to the banks of the great gray-green greasy Limpopo River, and he asks Crocodilia Niloticus what he has for breakfast. To which the latter replies,"Come here, and I'll whisper it to you."
 
Equus caballus, more commonly known as the horse, has been a part of human experience for thousands of years, first as a food source and once domesticated, as a major source of transportation and power. Even today, we use the term 'horsepower' to define the amount of work that an engine is capable of. The following picture is one of my own horses, taken a few months ago.

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(I have edited the bison image and hope it shows now. Thank you for making me aware.)
 
Yes, I can see it now. Oh... so Bison Bison is a buffalo! Because it repeats the word 'bison' twice I naturally assumed...:p

Next up is Fregata magnificens

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The Magnificent Frigate bird, which is needless to say, a frigate bird known for its magnificence.
 
There actually is a species that goes by three names and that would be Gorilla gorilla gorilla or the Western lowland gorilla. I get how many extra points, lol? :D

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Raquel has frequently been compared to Marilyn Monroe for the title of 'world's sexiest woman.' Here is a photo of her from 2012, which makes her appear a little more human, although she is 71 in this photo and not too many ladies of that vintage could give her a run for the money. :cool:

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