Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

amaranth

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Green amaranth, Amaranthus retroflexus amaranth ămˈərănthˌ [key] [Gr.,=unfading], common name for the Amaranthaceae (also commonly known as the pigweed family), a family of herbs, trees, ...

inchworm

(Encyclopedia)inchworm, name for the larvae of moths of the family Geometridae, a large, cosmopolitan group with over 1,200 species indigenous to North America. Also called measuring worms, spanworms, and loopers, ...

horsetail

(Encyclopedia)horsetail, any plant of the genus Equisetum [Lat.,=horse bristle], the single surviving genus of a large group (Equisetophyta) of primitive vascular plants. Like the ferns and club mosses, relatives o...

Gould, Stephen Jay

(Encyclopedia)Gould, Stephen Jay, 1941–2002, American paleontologist and science writer, b. Queens, New York; grad. Antioch College (B.S., 1963), Columbia Univ. (Ph.D., 1967). With Niles Eldredge, Gould proposed ...

juniper

(Encyclopedia)juniper, any tree or shrub of the genus Juniperus, aromatic evergreens of the family Cupressaceae (cypress family), widely distributed over the north temperate zone. Many are valuable as a source of l...

needlefish

(Encyclopedia)needlefish, common name for members of the family Belonidae, which comprises species of elongated, surface-swimming predaceous fish abundant in warm seas. They have beaklike jaws armed with sharp teet...

armyworm

(Encyclopedia)armyworm, larva, or caterpillar, of a moth, Pseudaletia unipuncta or Mythimna unipuncta, found in North America E of the Rocky Mts.; also known as the common, or true, armyworm. When numerous, armywor...

lettuce

(Encyclopedia)lettuce, annual garden plant (Lactuca sativa and varieties) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), probably native to the East Indies or Asia Minor, possibly as a derivative of the widespread weed c...

magnolia, in botany

(Encyclopedia)magnolia, common name for plants of the genus Magnolia, and for the Magnoliaceae, a family of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, often with showy flowers. They are principally of north temperate...

mimicry

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Mimicry in butterflies mimicry, in biology, the advantageous resemblance of one species to another, often unrelated, species or to a feature of its own environment. (When the latter results fr...

Browse by Subject