Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

palm

(Encyclopedia)palm, common name for members of the Palmae, a large family of chiefly tropical trees, shrubs, and vines. Most species are treelike, characterized by a crown of compound leaves, called fronds, termina...

ninebark

(Encyclopedia)ninebark, any plant of the genus Physocarpus of the family Rosaceae (rose family). Ninebarks are North American (one is Asian) deciduous, hardy, spring-blooming shrubs, with thin bark which peels off ...

North Braddock

(Encyclopedia)North Braddock, borough (1990 pop. 7,036), Allegheny co., W Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh, on the Monongahela River; inc. 1897. Andrew Carnegie's first steel plant was built there in 1875. The borough w...

Luleå

(Encyclopedia)Luleå lüˈləōˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 42,730), capital of Norrbotten co., NE Sweden, a port on the Gulf of Bothnia at the mouth of the Luleälv River. Although its harbor is icebound most of the ...

macramé

(Encyclopedia)macramé măkˈrəmāˌ [key], a technique of decorative knotting employing simple basic knots to create a multitude of patterns. The term derives from an Arabic word for braided fringe. Its first kno...

Kisumu

(Encyclopedia)Kisumu kēso͞oˈmo͞o [key], city (1989 est. pop. 185,100), capital of Nyanza prov., SW Kenya, on Kavirondo Gulf (an arm of Lake Victoria). It is the principal lake port of Kenya, its third largest c...

Maumee

(Encyclopedia)Maumee mômēˈ [key], residential city (1990 pop. 15,561), Lucas co., NW Ohio, on the Maumee River; inc. 1838. Maumee was the site of Fort Miami, a British post surrendered to the Americans during th...

salpiglossis

(Encyclopedia)salpiglossis sălˌpəglŏsˈəs [key], any plant of the genus Salpiglossis of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family), herbs native to Chile and widely cultivated elsewhere as garden annuals for th...

Mariel, town, Cuba

(Encyclopedia)Mariel märēālˈ [key], town, Artemesia prov., W Cuba, on sheltered Mariel Bay, 27 mi (43 km) WSW of Havana. A port in an agricultural region, Mariel has a special development zone designed to attra...

screwpine

(Encyclopedia)screwpine, any plant of the genus Pandanus, tropical shrubs or trees characterized by aerial prop roots, ranging throughout the Old World tropics, especially in the Pacific. The usually spiral arrange...

Browse by Subject