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gaillardia

(Encyclopedia)gaillardia gālärˈdēə [key], any plant of the genus Gaillardia of the Asteaceae family (aster family), including annual, biennial, and perennial herbs with showy heads of red and/or yellow ray flo...

celery

(Encyclopedia)celery, biennial plant (Apium graveolens) of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), of wide distribution in the wild state throughout the north temperate Old World and much cultivated also in Ameri...

canna

(Encyclopedia)canna [Lat.,=cane], any plant of the genus Canna, tropical and subtropical perennials, grown in temperate regions in parks and gardens for the large foliage and spikelike, usually red or yellow blosso...

sweetbrier

(Encyclopedia)sweetbrier, sweetbriar, or eglantine ĕgˈləntīn, –tēn [key] [O. Fr. from Lat.,=needle], wild rose of Europe (Rosa eglanteria), cultivated and now naturalized in the United States. The bush has ...

Bethlem Royal Hospital

(Encyclopedia)Bethlem Royal Hospital bĕthˈləm [key], the oldest institution for the care and confinement of the mentally ill in England, and one of the oldest in Europe. A priory in 1247, the building was conver...

oryx

(Encyclopedia)oryx ôrˈĭks [key], name for several small, horselike antelopes, genus Oryx, found in deserts and arid scrublands of Africa and Arabia. They feed on grasses and scrub and can go without water for lo...

Pynchon, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Pynchon, Thomas pĭnˈchən [key], 1937–, American novelist, b. Glen Cove, N.Y., grad. Cornell, 1958. Pynchon is noted for his amazingly fertile imagination, his wild sense of humor, and the teeming...

rabies

(Encyclopedia)rabies hīˌdrəfōˈbēə [key], acute viral infection of the central nervous system in dogs, bats, foxes, raccoons, skunks, and other animals, and in humans. The virus is transmitted from an animal ...

Clements, Vassar

(Encyclopedia)Clements, Vassar, 1928–2005, American virtuoso fiddle player, b. Kinards, S.C. Self-taught, he played with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys from 1949 to 1956. Though his roots were in country and weste...

executive privilege

(Encyclopedia)executive privilege, exemption of the executive branch of government, or its officers, from having to give evidence, specifically, in U.S. law, the exemption of the president from disclosing informati...