The Question: What is the difference between an herb and a spice? The Answer: The terms "spice" and "herb" have both been used to describe parts of plants (…
(Encyclopedia) saxifragesaxifragesăkˈsĭfrĭj [key], common name for several members of the Saxifragaceae, a family of widely varying herbs, shrubs, and small trees of cosmopolitan distribution. They…
(Encyclopedia) grape hyacinth, any plant of the genus Muscari of the family Liliaceae (lily family), low plants with dense spikelike clusters of small, nodding flowers that are usually deep blue. Of…
(Encyclopedia) Allingham, MargeryAllingham, Margeryălˈĭng-əm [key], 1904–66, English detective-story writer, b. London. Most of her novels feature Mr. Albert Campion, a scholarly detective of noble…
(Encyclopedia) cosmoscosmoskŏzˈməs [key], any plant of the tropical American genus Cosmos of the family Asteraceae (aster family). C. bipinnatus, of Mexico, and others are cultivated in many…
(Encyclopedia) Fantin-Latour, Ignace Henri Jean ThéodoreFantin-Latour, Ignace Henri Jean Théodoreēgnäsˈ äNrēˈ zhäNˈ tēōdôrˈ fäNtăNˈ-lät&oomacr;rˈ [key], 1836–1904, French painter and lithographer…
(Encyclopedia) pondweed, common name for the family Potamogetonaceae, and for weedy aquatic herbs of the genus Potamogeton, of which about 50 known species inhabit North American ponds and slow…
(Encyclopedia) Awaji-shimaAwaji-shimaäwäˈjē-shēˈmä [key], island, 32 mi (52 km) long and from 3 to 17 mi (4.8–27 km) wide, Hyogo prefecture, Japan, in the Inland Sea. Sumoto, on Osaka Bay, is the…
(Encyclopedia) Spanish moss, fibrous grayish-green epiphyte (Tillandsia usneoides) that hangs on trees of tropical America and the Southern states, also called Florida, southern, or long moss. It is…
(Encyclopedia) candytuft, any plant of the genus Iberis of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family), low-growing plants of the Old World. A number of half-hardy annuals and evergreen…