Columbia Encyclopedia

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spinach

(Encyclopedia)spinach, annual plant (Spinacia oleracea) of the family Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot family), probably of Persian origin and known to have been introduced into Europe in the 15th cent. It is valued as a ...

breadroot

(Encyclopedia)breadroot or Indian breadroot, perennial plant (Psoralea esculenta) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), indigenous to the American prairies and valued by Native Americans for the starchy tuberou...

butterfly fish

(Encyclopedia)butterfly fish, common name for certain members of the Chaetodontidae, a family of reef-dwelling tropical fishes with compressed bodies and small mouths and teeth. Butterfly fish are carnivorous, feed...

bougainvillea

(Encyclopedia)bougainvillea or bougainvillaea both: bo͞oˌgənvĭlˈēə [key] [for L. A. de Bougainville], any plant of the genus Bougainvillea of the family Nyctaginaceae (four-o'clock family); chiefly tropical ...

coffee tree, Kentucky

(Encyclopedia)coffee tree, Kentucky, common name for the plant species Gymnocladus dioica, a tree of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) and native to the E United States. The seeds of the woody pods have been us...

dewberry

(Encyclopedia)dewberry, name for several species of the genus Rubus of the family Rosaceae (rose family). See bramble. ...

blackberry

(Encyclopedia)blackberry, name for several species of thorny plants of the genus Rubus of the family Rosaceae (rose family). See bramble. ...

loosestrife

(Encyclopedia)loosestrife, common name for the Lythraceae, a widely distributed family of plants most abundant as woody shrubs in the American tropics but including also herbaceous species (chiefly of temperate zon...

mistletoe

(Encyclopedia)mistletoe, common name for the Loranthaceae, a family of chiefly tropical hemiparasitic herbs and shrubs with leathery evergreen leaves and waxy white berries. They have green leaves, but they manufac...

murre

(Encyclopedia)murre mör [key], common name for a group of diving birds of the same family as the auk and the puffin (family Alcidae) and including the guillemots. There are three species of murres, all about 18 in...