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buckwheat

(Encyclopedia)buckwheat, common name for certain members of the Polygonaceae, a family of herbs and shrubs found chiefly in north temperate areas and having a characteristic pungent juice containing oxalic acid. Sp...

Channel Islands, British dependency

(Encyclopedia)Channel Islands, archipelago (2015 est. pop. 164,000), 75 sq mi (194 sq km), 10 mi (16 km) off the coast of Normandy, France, in the English Channel. The main islands are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, a...

nomad

(Encyclopedia)nomad nōˈmădˌ [key], one of a group of people without fixed habitation, especially pastoralists. (Some authorities prefer the terms “nonsedentary” or “migratory” rather than “nomadic” ...

willow

(Encyclopedia)willow, common name for some members of the Salicaceae, a family of deciduous trees and shrubs of worldwide distribution, especially abundant from north temperate to arctic areas. The family consists ...

continent

(Encyclopedia)continent, largest unit of landmasses on the earth. The continents include Eurasia (conventionally regarded as two continents, Europe and Asia), Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and An...

North American Native art

(Encyclopedia)North American Native art, diverse traditional arts of Native North Americans. In recent years Native American arts have become commodities collected and marketed by nonindigenous Americans and Europe...

lichen

(Encyclopedia)lichen līˈkən [key], usually slow-growing organism of simple structure, composed of fungi (see Fungi) and photosynthetic green algae or cyanobacteria living together in a symbiotic relationship and...

Bering Sea

(Encyclopedia)Bering Sea, c.878,000 sq mi (2,274,020 sq km), northward extension of the Pacific Ocean between Siberia and Alaska. It is screened from the Pacific proper by the Aleutian Islands. The Bering Strait co...

caterpillar

(Encyclopedia)caterpillar kătˈəpĭlˌər, kătˈər– [key], common name for the larva of a moth or butterfly. Caterpillars have distinct heads and are segmented and wormlike. They have three pairs of short, jo...

coconut

(Encyclopedia)coconut, fruit of the coco palm (Cocos nucifera), a tree widely distributed through tropical regions. The seed is peculiarly adapted to dispersal by water because the large pod holding the nut is buoy...