Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

animal

(Encyclopedia)animal, any member of the animal kingdom (kingdom Animalia), as distinguished from organisms of the plant kingdom (kingdom Plantae) and the kingdoms Fungi, Protista, and Monera in the five-kingdom sys...

bald cypress

(Encyclopedia)bald cypress, common name for members of the Taxodiaceae, a small family of deciduous or evergreen conifers with needlelike or scalelike leaves and woody cones. Most species of the family are trees of...

gall, in botany

(Encyclopedia)gall, abnormal growth, or hypertrophy, of plant tissue produced by chemical or mechanical (e.g., the rubbing together of two branches) irritants or hormones. Chemical irritants are released by parasit...

luminescence

(Encyclopedia)luminescence, general term applied to all forms of cool light, i.e., light emitted by sources other than a hot, incandescent body, such as a blackbody radiator. Luminescence is caused by the movement ...

peach

(Encyclopedia)peach, fruit tree (Prunus persica) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) having decorative pink blossoms and a juicy, sweet drupe fruit. The peach appears to have originated in China, where it was ment...

biological diversity

(Encyclopedia)biological diversity or biodiversity, the number of species in a given habitat. Scientists have variously estimated that there are from 3 to 30 million extant species, of which 2.5 million have been c...

Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of, 1389–1435, English nobleman; third son of Henry IV of England and brother of Henry V. At the death (1422) of his brother and succession of his 9-month-old nephew...

York, Edmund of Langley, duke of

(Encyclopedia)York, Edmund of Langley, duke of, 1341–1402, fifth son of Edward III of England. He was made (1362) earl of Cambridge, served on expeditions to Spain and France, and married (1372) Isabel, daughter ...

spore

(Encyclopedia)spore, term applied both to a resistant or resting stage occurring among various unicellular organisms (especially bacteria) and to an asexual reproductive cell produced by many unicellular plants and...

Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, duke of, 1355–97, English nobleman; youngest son of Edward III. He was betrothed (1374) to Eleanor, heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, and became earl o...