Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Daubenton, Louis Jean Marie

(Encyclopedia)Daubenton, Louis Jean Marie lwē zhäN märēˈ dōbäNtôNˈ [key], 1716–1800, French naturalist. He was a professor at the Collège de France from 1778; his work touched many fields—comparative ...

cortex

(Encyclopedia)cortex, in botany, term generally applied to the outer soft tissues of the leaves, stems, and roots of plants. Cortical cells of the leaves and outer layers of nonwoody stems contain chloroplasts, and...

Aizuwakamatsu

(Encyclopedia)Aizuwakamatsu īˈzo͞owäkämätˈso͞o [key], city, Fukushima prefecture, N Honshu, Japan. It has a large semiconductor plant and continues to produce many traditional p...

Grand Prairie

(Encyclopedia)Grand Prairie, city (2020 pop. 196,100), Dallas and Tarrant counties, N Tex., halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth; inc. 1909. Located in a highly urba...

Gilroy

(Encyclopedia)Gilroy, city (2020 pop. 59,520), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1870. Located in the fertile Santa Clara valley, Gilroy supports diversified agricultur...

Kafue

(Encyclopedia)Kafue käfo͞oˈā [key], river, c.600 mi (970 km) long, rising along the Zambia-Congo border, S central Africa, near Lubumbashi, and meandering through central Zambia to the Zambezi River. It provide...

meadow beauty

(Encyclopedia)meadow beauty, any plant of the genus Rhexia, herbaceous perennials of wet places E of the Rockies, particularly damp pine barrens and sands along the southeast coast. A widespread species, R. virgini...

Lipton, Seymour

(Encyclopedia)Lipton, Seymour, 1903–86, American sculptor, b. New York City. Self-taught as a sculptor, Lipton worked directly in sheet metals and molten alloys, creating organically twisting forms with richly br...

strangler fig

(Encyclopedia)strangler fig, common name for a number of tropical plant species, most of them are in the family Moraceae (fig family). They include the golden fig, Ficus aurea, of the SE United States. The name str...

Tracy

(Encyclopedia)Tracy, city (1990 pop. 33,558), San Joaquin co., central Calif., in the San Joaquin valley; inc. 1910. It is a railroad junction in a cattle and dairying region. Grapes, sugar beets, grain, fruit, nut...