(Encyclopedia) yam, common name for some members of the Dioscoreaceae, a family of tropical and subtropical climbing herbs or shrubs with starchy rhizomes often cultivated for food. The largest genus…
(Encyclopedia) yarrow, a plant of the genus Achillea, perennial herbs of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native to north temperate regions. Several species are cultivated as ornamentals for…
(Encyclopedia) White, E. B. (Elwyn Brooks White), 1899–1985, American writer, b. Mt. Vernon, N.Y., grad. Cornell, 1921. A witty, satiric observer of contemporary society, White was a member of the…
(Encyclopedia) Burroughs, John, 1837–1921, American naturalist and author, b. Roxbury, N.Y.; son of a farmer. He was a journalist, a treasury clerk in Washington, and a bank examiner, before settling…
(Encyclopedia) state flowers. Each state of the United States has designated, usually by legislative action, one flower as its floral emblem; the rose has been designated by Congress as the national…
(Encyclopedia) spikenardspikenardspīkˈnärd [key], name for several plants. The biblical spikenard, or nard, was a costly aromatic ointment, preserved in alabaster boxes, whose chief ingredient is…
(Encyclopedia) Casement, Sir Roger David, 1864–1916, Irish revolutionary. While in British consular service, he exposed (1904) the atrocious exploitation of wild-rubber gatherers in the Congo (thus…
(Encyclopedia) quebrachoquebrachokābräˈchō [key], name for a tanning substance and for the trees from which it comes, chiefly the red quebracho, or quebracho colorado (Schinopsis lorentzii), of the…
Bubonic PlagueEpidemics of the PastSmallpox: 12,000 Years of TerrorBubonic PlagueInfluenza: A Twentieth-Century Epidemic Ring around the rosy, A pocket full of posies, Ashes … ashes, We all…
(Encyclopedia) circus [Lat.,=ring, circle], historically, the arena associated with the horse and chariot races and athletic contests known in ancient Rome as the Circensian games. The Roman circus…
