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polo

(Encyclopedia)polo, indoor or outdoor ball and goal game played on horseback. Some historians claim that polo originated in Persia in the 6th cent.; it spread to Turkey, India, and Tibet and, with some modificati...

illustration

(Encyclopedia)illustration, any type of picture or decoration used in conjunction with a text to embellish its appearance or to clarify its meaning. Illustration is as old as writing, with both originating in the p...

Polypodiophyta

(Encyclopedia)Polypodiophyta pŏlˌēpōˌdēŏfˈətə [key], division of the plant kingdom consisting of the plants commonly called ferns. The ferns are vascular plants with stems, roots, and leaves. The small an...

madder

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bluet, Houstonia caerulea, a member of the madder family madder, common name for the Rubiaceae, a family of chiefly tropical and subtropical trees, shrubs, and herbs, especially abundant in N ...

Sakha Republic

(Encyclopedia)Sakha Republic yəko͞oˈshēə [key], constituent republic (1995 pop. 1,035,000), c.1,200,000 sq mi (3,108,000 sq km), NE Siberian Russia. Yakutsk is the capital. The Sakha Republic is bounded in the...

carrot

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Carrot, Daucus carota carrot, common name for some members of the Umbelliferae, a family (also called the parsley family) of chiefly biennial or perennial herbs of north temperate regions. Mos...

heath, in botany

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Rhododendron, Rhododendron maximum, a member of the heath family heath, in botany, common name for some members of the Ericaceae, a family of chiefly evergreen shrubs with berry or capsule fru...

diffusion

(Encyclopedia)diffusion, in chemistry, the spontaneous migration of substances from regions where their concentration is high to regions where their concentration is low. Diffusion is important in many life process...

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...

figwort

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Figwort, Scrophularia lanceolata figwort, common name for some members of the Scrophulariaceae, a family comprising chiefly herbs and small shrubs and distributed widely over all continents. T...