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cake

(Encyclopedia)cake, originally a small mass of dough baked by turning on a spit; in present usage a dessert made of flour, sugar, eggs, seasonings, usually some leavening and liquid besides the eggs, and shortening...

almond

(Encyclopedia)almond, name for a small tree (Prunus amygdalus) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for the nutlike, edible seed of its drupe fruit. The “nuts” of sweet-almond varieties are eaten raw or roa...

witch hazel

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana witch hazel, common name for some members of the Hamamelidaceae, a family of trees and shrubs found mostly in Asia. The family includes the large genus (Coryl...

Taylor, James Vernon

(Encyclopedia) Taylor, James Vernon, 1948-, American singer-songwriter, b. Boston, Ma. Taylor was born in Boston but raised in Chapel Hill, N.C. As a teenager, he be...

cassava

(Encyclopedia)cassava mănˈēŏk [key], name for many species of the genus Manihot of the family Euphorbiaceae (spurge family). The roots, which resemble sweet potatoes and are eaten in much the same way, yield ca...

vegetative propagation

(Encyclopedia)vegetative propagation, the ability of plants to reproduce without sexual reproduction, by producing new plants from existing vegetative structures. Some plants, such as the Canada thistle and most ba...

Doughty, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Doughty, Thomas, 1793–1856, American painter of the Hudson River school, b. Philadelphia. Although self-taught, he was one of the first American landscape painters to win widespread recognition at h...

coltsfoot

(Encyclopedia)coltsfoot, Eurasian perennial herb (Tussilago farfara) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), now a widespread weed in most northern lands. The scaly flower stalk bears a yellow flower head and down...

blister beetle

(Encyclopedia)blister beetle, common name for certain soft-bodied, usually black or brown, mostly elongate and cylindrical beetles belonging to the family Meloidae. Blister beetles are common insects found feeding ...

belladonna

(Encyclopedia)belladonna bĕlədŏnˈə [key] or deadly nightshade, poisonous perennial plant, Atropa belladona, of the nightshade family. Native to Europe and now grown in the United States, the plant has reddish,...