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baby's breath

(Encyclopedia)baby's breath, name for a plant of the family Caryophyllaceae (pink family) and for several other flowers, e.g., white bedstraw of the family Rubiaceae (madder family) and grape hyacinth of the family...

sandbur

(Encyclopedia)sandbur or bur grass, any species of the genus Cenchrus of the family Poaceae (grass family), sandy-soil plants of tropical and temperate regions. At maturity the sharp spines and burlike seeds make t...

nuclear winter

(Encyclopedia)nuclear winter, theory holding that the smoke and dust produced by a large nuclear war would result in a prolonged period of cold on the earth. The earliest version of the theory, which was put forwar...

bearberry

(Encyclopedia)bearberry, any plant of the northern and alpine genus Arctostaphylos of the family Ericaceae (heath family), especially A. uvaursi, a trailing evergreen sometimes cultivated as a ground cover. The sma...

teff

(Encyclopedia)teff, annual plant, Eragrostis tef, of the grass family (Poaceoe), whose seeds are a staple grain in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is a gluten-free cereal grain, high in iron, protein, calcium, vitamin C, ...

agrimony

(Encyclopedia)agrimony ăgˈrĭmōˌnē [key], any plant of the genus Agrimonia, perennials of the family Rosaceae (rose family) native to north temperate zones, to Brazil, and to Africa. They are found wild in the...

ageratum

(Encyclopedia)ageratum ăjˌərāˈtəm, əjĕrˈə– [key] [Gr.,=unaging], any plant of the genus Ageratum, tropical American annuals of the family Asteraceae (aster family). The commonly cultivated species is th...

Blakeslee, Albert Francis

(Encyclopedia)Blakeslee, Albert Francis, 1874–1954, American botanist, b. Genesee, New York. He received his Ph.D. at Harvard (1904) and was a member of the faculty until 1907. After several years as professor at...

watermelon

(Encyclopedia)watermelon, plant (Citrullus vulgaris) of the family Curcurbitaceae (gourd family) native to Africa and introduced to America by Africans transported as slaves. Watermelons are now extensively cultiva...

Lycopodiophyta

(Encyclopedia)Lycopodiophyta līˌkōpōˌdēŏfˈətə [key], division of the plant kingdom consisting of the organisms commonly called club mosses and quillworts. As in other vascular plants, the sporophyte, or s...