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date

(Encyclopedia)date, name for a palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and for its edible fruit. Probably native to Arabia and North Africa, it has from earliest times been a principal food in many desert and tropical regions. ...

poison ivy

(Encyclopedia)poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac, woody vines and trailing or erect shrubs of the family Anacardiaceae (sumac family), native to North America. They are sometimes considered as several specie...

oilbird

(Encyclopedia)oilbird, common name for an owllike, cave-dwelling bird, Steatornis caripensis, belonging to the family Steatornithidae. It spends its days in dark caves, maneuvering by means of a batlike sonar devic...

organic farming

(Encyclopedia)organic farming, the practice of growing plants—especially for fruits and vegetables, but for ornamentals as well—without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, or of raisin...

Orléanais

(Encyclopedia)Orléanais ôrlāänāˈ [key], region and former province, N central France, on both sides of the Loire River. Orléans, the historic capital, Chartres, and Blois are the chief cities. The region inc...

Jharkhand

(Encyclopedia)Jharkhand, state (2001 provisional pop. 26,909,428), 30,775 sq mi (79,714 sq km), E central India; created in 2000 from S Bihar, which now forms its northern border. Other bordering states are Chhatti...

anise

(Encyclopedia)anise ănˈĭs [key], annual plant (Pimpinella anisum) of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), native to the Mediterranean region but long cultivated elsewhere for its aromatic and medicinal qual...

Walla Walla

(Encyclopedia)Walla Walla wŏlˈə wŏlˈə [key], city (2006 est. pop. 30,945), seat of Walla Walla co., SE Wash., at the junction of the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek, near the Oreg. line; inc. 1862. It is a t...

Kérkira

(Encyclopedia)Kérkira kôrˈfo͞o [key], Lat. Corcyra, island (1991 pop. 104,781), 229 sq mi (593 sq km), NW Greece, in the Ionian Sea, the second largest of the Ionian Islands, separated by a narrow channel from ...

Campania

(Encyclopedia)Campania kämpäˈnyä [key], region, 5,249 sq mi (13,595 sq km), central Italy, extending from ...