Columbia Encyclopedia

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root, in botany

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Longitudinal cross section of a root root, in botany, the descending axis of a plant, as contrasted with the stem, the ascending axis. In most plants the root is underground, but in epiphytes ...

amole

(Encyclopedia)amole: see soap plant.

saponin

(Encyclopedia)saponin: see soap plant.

rosinweed

(Encyclopedia)rosinweed: see compass plant.

soapbark tree

(Encyclopedia)soapbark tree: see soap plant.

edelweiss

(Encyclopedia)edelweiss āˈdəlvīs [key], perennial aster plant (genus Leontopodium) found at high altitudes in the mountains of Europe, Asia, and South America. It is about 6 in. (15.2 cm) tall with woolly-white...

Homestead strike

(Encyclopedia)Homestead strike, in U.S. history, a bitterly fought labor dispute. On June 29, 1892, workers belonging to the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers struck the Carnegie Steel Company at Ho...

lily of the valley

(Encyclopedia)lily of the valley, common name for either of the two species of Convallaria, spring-blooming perennials of the family Liliaceae (lily family). C. majalis, the species usually in cultivation, is nativ...

meadow rue

(Encyclopedia)meadow rue, any plant of the genus Thalictrum of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family). Most are tall perennials (up to 7 ft/2.1 m high) bearing summer flowers with showy, pendent tassels of lon...

baneberry

(Encyclopedia)baneberry, any plant of the small genus Actaea, north temperate perennials of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family) sometimes cultivated for the handsome (though poisonous) berrylike fruits. Nat...