1) the difference between trait and characteristic is that trait is an identifying characteristic, habit or trend while characteristic is a distinguishable feature of a person or thing.
2) Yes people with different parents still can have traits in common, for example two friends can both have a cleft-chin or a widows-peak.
3) The traits in this situation is the color of the flower (yellow), and the tall stem. But, the environmental part is the wilted part due to the dry environment(the lack of water).
