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Tantalus

(Encyclopedia)Tantalus tănˈtələs [key], in Greek mythology, king of Sipylos, son of Zeus and father of Pelops and Niobe. He was admitted to the society of the gods, but his abominable behavior aroused their ang...

amber

(Encyclopedia)amber, fossilized tree resin. Amber can vary in color from yellow to red to green and blue. The best commercial amber is transparent, but some varieties are cloudy. To be called amber, the resin must ...

fern

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Life cycle of a fern fern, any plant of the division Polypodiophyta. Fern species, numbering several thousand, are found throughout the world but are especially abundant in tropical rain fores...

aloes

(Encyclopedia)aloes ălˈōz [key], drug obtained from the aloe; also a biblical name for an aromatic substance of various uses, mentioned in connection with myrrh and spices and thought to be the fragrant wood of ...

croton, in botany

(Encyclopedia)croton krōˈtən [key], any of several species of Codiaeum that are widely cultivated as ornamentals and houseplants. The most popular species is C. variegatum, which has many cultivated forms of hig...

codling moth

(Encyclopedia)codling moth kŏdˈlĭng [key], small moth, Carpocapsa pomonella, whose larva is the destructive apple worm. Of European origin, it is now found wherever apples are grown. The adult moth is gray with ...

Gourgues, Dominique de

(Encyclopedia)Gourgues, Dominique de dômēnēkˈ də go͞org [key], c.1530–1593, French soldier and adventurer. He served in the French army in Italy, was captured by the Spanish, then by the Turks, served as ga...

Floyd, Carlisle

(Encyclopedia)Floyd, Carlisle (Carlisle Sessions Floyd, Jr.), 1926–, American composer, b. Latta, S.C., grad. Syracuse Univ. (B.A., 1946; M.A., 1949). His reputation rests on his operas, for which he writes both ...

nutmeg

(Encyclopedia)nutmeg, name applied to members of the family Myristicaceae. The true nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) is an evergreen tree native to the Moluccas but now cultivated elsewhere in the tropics and to a limit...

bignonia

(Encyclopedia)bignonia bĭgnōˈnēə [key], common name for the family Bignoniaceae, a family of chiefly woody vines of the American tropics and also a few shrubs and trees. The trumpet creeper (of the genus Bigno...