Knowledge Check: Forest Wisdom

1. What are guayusa and the kola nut?

Two kinds of coffeeTwo ocean plantsTwo desert cactiAn Amazon holly brewed as tea, and a West African rainforest seed that is chewed

2. What happens to guayusa's chemistry when it is grown outside intact forest?

It loses about half of its active compoundsNothing changesIt becomes twice as strongIt turns poisonous

3. What does it mean to say that for guayusa and kola, chemistry is relationship?

They only grow when two plants are marriedThey have no active compoundsTheir chemistry never changes anywhereTheir strength depends on the forest ecosystem around them, not the plant alone

4. What is agroforestry, the right way to grow these plants?

A forest garden, growing the crop among many species under a real canopyA single-crop plantationGrowing the plant indoorsClearing the forest for open fields

5. What is the main threat to guayusa forest in Ecuador?

Cattle ranchingToo much rainPalm-oil plantationsCoffee farming

6. How is much of this forest being protected?

Indigenous land rights, like the Achuar territory, and West African sacred grovesIt is not protected at allBy fencing it off from all peopleBy clearing it for safer crops

7. What is the Achuar Wayus Aramu?

A trade taxA type of forest treeA pre-dawn guayusa ceremony that has been a community institution for over a thousand yearsA modern energy-drink brand

8. How did the West African kola trade work across the Sahara?

Kola was never traded outside its forestKola was shipped by sea to Europe onlyKola was flown north by planeForest kola was carried over a thousand miles by camel to hubs like Timbuktu, gaining a large markup

9. What is a reciprocity economy, as seen with guayusa and kola?

Paying only in goldExchange based on long-term relationships and mutual obligation rather than cashA system with no exchange at allA stock market for plants

10. What famous product did John Pemberton create in 1886 using kola extract?

CoffeeCoca-ColaPepsiTea