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Subjects · Leaving Cert Agricultural Science

Leaving Cert Agricultural Science: Plant ID & lifecycles

How often Plant ID & lifecycles comes up on the Agricultural Science papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 4 of the last 5 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

OL Asked on 4 of the last 5 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Plant ID & lifecycles, Higher Level(8 marks)

Quick ones on Plant ID & lifecycles.

(a)How is barley told apart from wheat and oats where the leaf meets the stem?
  1. No auricles, but a large ligule
  2. Large, hairless, clasping auricles
  3. Small auricles with fine hairs
(b)Ragwort is usually described as a biennial. What does this mean?
  1. It lives and flowers for many years
  2. It flowers twice in every year
  3. It completes its life cycle over two years
(c)Which grassland weed has large broad leaves, a deep taproot and long-lived seeds?
  1. Docks
  2. Annual meadow grass
  3. Chickweed
Show the answers

(a) Large, hairless, clasping auricles

(b) It completes its life cycle over two years

(c) Docks

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Plant ID & lifecycles.

Higher Level

Asked on 4 of the last 5 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q2a, Q15
2024Q5
2023Q2
2022Not asked
2021Q1

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Plant ID & lifecycles questions

Plant ID & lifecycles, 3 marks

Dense nettles in a field corner usually show that the soil is...

  1. Very acid and nutrient-poor
  2. Waterlogged peat
  3. Rich in nitrogen and phosphate
Show the answer

Rich in nitrogen and phosphate

Nettles thrive where nutrients have built up, e.g. old dung heaps, feeding sites or field corners where stock gather.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 4 of the last 5 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q7
2024Q13
2023Not asked
2022Q16c, Q16d
2021Q1a, Q1b

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Plant ID & lifecycles questions

Plant ID & lifecycles, 2 marks

A plant that completes its whole lifecycle in one year is?

  1. A biennial
  2. A perennial
  3. An annual
Show the answer

An annual

Annuals grow, flower, set seed and die in one season, like barley and wild oats. Biennials take two years; perennials live for many years.

Plant ID & lifecycles, 2 marks

Perennial ryegrass is called perennial because it?

  1. Grows only in spring
  2. Lives for more than two years
  3. Flowers once and then dies
Show the answer

Lives for more than two years

Perennials regrow year after year. With good grazing and soil fertility, a ryegrass sward can stay productive for many seasons.

Plant ID & lifecycles, 3 marks

Barley, wheat and oats can be told apart by the shape of their?

  1. Auricles
  2. Roots
  3. Seed colour
Show the answer

Auricles

Auricles are small claw-like growths where the leaf meets the stem. Barley has large ones, wheat has small hairy ones, and oats have none.

Other Agricultural Science topics

All of Leaving Cert Agricultural Science