Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

pasqueflower

(Encyclopedia)pasqueflower păskˈflouˌər [key], name for two similar perennials of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family). The Old World pasqueflower (Anemone pulsatilla) was so named because it blossoms ar...

weed

(Encyclopedia)weed, common term for any wild plant, particularly an undesired plant, growing in cultivated ground, where it competes with crop plants for soil nutrients and water. In their natural habitat, wildflow...

stock, in botany

(Encyclopedia)stock, in botany, common name for any species of the genus Matthiola, for Malcomia maritima (Virginia stock), and for the wallflower, all belonging to the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard f...

vanilla

(Encyclopedia)vanilla, a plant of the genus Vanilla of the family Orchidaceae (orchid family). Vines of hot, damp climates, most are indigenous to Central and South America, especially Mexico, but are now cultivate...

duckweed

(Encyclopedia)duckweed, any plant of the genus Lemna and sometimes of related genera. Duckweeds are tiny floating or submerged aquatic plants with reduced or obsolete roots. They flower only rarely, and their flowe...

Duhamel du Monceau, Henri Louis

(Encyclopedia)Duhamel du Monceau, Henri Louis äNrēˈ lwē düämĕlˈ dü môNsōˈ [key], 1700–1782, French agriculturist and tree expert. He did experimental work on plant physiology and ecology and wrote The...

Chungju

(Encyclopedia)Chungju cho͞ongˈjo͞oˈ [key], city, North Chungcheong prov., central South Korea. Chungju is an ...

Iligan

(Encyclopedia)Iligan ēlēˈgän [key], city, capital of Lanao del Norte prov., W central Mindanao, the Phi...

Gadsden

(Encyclopedia)Gadsden gădzˈdən [key], city (2020 pop. 33,945), seat of Etowah co., NE Ala., on the Coosa ...

kinetin

(Encyclopedia)kinetin kīˈnətĭn [key], one of a group of chemically similar plant hormones, the cytokinins, that promote cell division. In some instances kinetin acts together with another hormone, indoleacetic ...