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poisonous plant

(Encyclopedia)poisonous plant, any plant possessing a property injurious to man or animal. Plants may be poisonous to the touch (e.g., poison ivy, poison sumac), or orally toxic (e.g., poison hemlock, deadly amanit...

reservoir

(Encyclopedia)reservoir rĕzˈəvôr, –vwär [key], storage tank or wholly or partly artificial lake for storing water. Building an embankment or dam to preserve a supply of water for irrigation is an ancient pra...

quarantine

(Encyclopedia)quarantine kwŏrˈəntēn [key], isolation of persons, animals, places, and effects that carry or are suspected of harboring communicable disease. The term originally referred to the 40 days of offsho...

veto

(Encyclopedia)veto [Lat.,=I forbid], power of one functionary (e.g., the president) of a government, or of one member of a group or coalition, to block the operation of laws or agreements passed or entered into by ...

mutation

(Encyclopedia)mutation, in biology, a sudden, random change in a gene, or unit of hereditary material, that can alter an inheritable characteristic. Most mutations are not beneficial, since any change in the delica...

Cortizo Cohen, Laurentino

(Encyclopedia)Cortizo Cohen, Laurentino, 1953–, Panamanian rancher and political leader. A member of the Democratic Revolutionary party, he studied business administration in the United States and served in the n...

Chub, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Chub kŭb [key], in the Bible, an African people. This may be a textual error for Lub (i.e., Lubim). ...

Ennis

(Encyclopedia)Ennis, city (2020 pop. 20,159), Ellis co., N Tex.; inc. 1872. It is a trading, financial, rail, and processing center in a fertile blackland area that p...

Grosvenor Gallery

(Encyclopedia)Grosvenor Gallery, founded in London (1877) by Sir Coutts Lindsay (1839–1913), for the independent exhibition (opening May 1 annually) of paintings and sculpture by established artists, both Academi...

Mercury, in Roman religion

(Encyclopedia)Mercury, in Roman religion, god of commerce and messenger of the gods; identified with the Greek Hermes. He was honored at the Mercuralia, a festival held in May and attended primarily by traders and ...