Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

trefoil

(Encyclopedia)trefoil trēˈfoil [key] [O.Fr.,=three-leaf], in botany, name for several plants, chiefly of the pulse family, having trifoliate leaves. Best known of the trefoils is clover. The bird's-foot trefoil (...

poinciana

(Encyclopedia)poinciana poinsēāˈnə, –ăˈnə [key], any shrub or tree of the tropical and subtropical genus Poinciana of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). Poincianas are popular ornamentals for their sho...

Wistar, Caspar

(Encyclopedia)Wistar, Caspar wĭsˈtər [key], 1761–1818, American physician, b. Philadelphia, M.D. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1786; grandson of Caspar Wistar (1696–1752), early Pennsylvania glassmaker. He taught (178...

brazilwood

(Encyclopedia)brazilwood, common name for several trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye. The dye has largely been replaced by synthetic dyes for fabrics, but it is still used in...

kudzu

(Encyclopedia)kudzu ko͝odˈzo͞o [key], plant of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), native to Japan. Kudzu (Pueraria thunbergiana) has a woody stem, broad leaves, and clusters of large purple flowers. It is us...

sainfoin

(Encyclopedia)sainfoin sānˈfoin [key] [Fr.,=holy hay], leguminous perennial herb (Onobrychis viciaefolia) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) indigenous in S Europe and in temperate W Asia. Sainfoin has for ...

Rimmer, William

(Encyclopedia)Rimmer, William, 1816–79, American sculptor and writer, b. Liverpool, England. He was brought up in the United States and after working as a cobbler in Brockton, Mass., at the age of 30 began the st...

licorice

(Encyclopedia)licorice lĭkˈərĭs, –rĭsh [key], name for a European plant (Glycyrrhiza glabra) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) and for the sweet substance obtained from the root. Since early times the...

rain tree

(Encyclopedia)rain tree, also called monkeypod, a large leguminous tropical tree (Albizia saman or Samanea saman) of tropical America belonging to the family Leguminosae (pulse family), the leaves of which fold tog...

tragacanth

(Encyclopedia)tragacanth trăgˈəkănth [key] or gum tragacanth, gummy exudation from the leguminous shrub Astragalus gummifer and related pulse family plants of SE Europe and W Asia. It is obtained through incisi...