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mullet

(Encyclopedia)mullet, blunt-nosed, tropical and temperate water fishes of the family Mugilidae, found worldwide. Small schools of mullets frequent shallow waters, feeding on aquatic plants and on mud, which is grou...

Ashmore and Cartier Islands

(Encyclopedia)Ashmore and Cartier Islands ăshˈmōr, cärˌtē-āˈ [key], unhabited tropical islands, 2 sq mi (5 sq km), E Indian Ocean, a dependency of Australia located 190 mi (300 km) NW of N Western Australia...

savanna

(Encyclopedia)savanna or savannah both: səvănˈə [key], tropical or subtropical grassland lying on the margin of the trade wind belts. The climate of a savanna is characterized by a rainy period during the summe...

Virgin Islands National Park

(Encyclopedia)Virgin Islands National Park, 14,689 acres (5,949 hectares), St. John, Virgin Islands; est. 1956. The park, with beaches, coves, and headlands, is rich in tropical-plant, animal, and marine life. Bord...

Pointe-Noire

(Encyclopedia)Pointe-Noire pwăNt-nwär [key], city (1984 pop. 294,203), SW Republic of the Congo, Africa, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. Offshore oil drilling and oil refining are the city's most important economic...

Britton, Nathaniel Lord

(Encyclopedia)Britton, Nathaniel Lord, 1859–1934, American botanist, grad. Columbia School of Mines, 1879. He taught geology and botany at Columbia, 1879–96. He was the New York Botanical Garden's first directo...

West Indies, University of the

(Encyclopedia)West Indies, University of the, autonomous regional institution with main campuses in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados; coeducational; est. 1948 in Mona, Jamaica, as an external university college of t...

canna

(Encyclopedia)canna [Lat.,=cane], any plant of the genus Canna, tropical and subtropical perennials, grown in temperate regions in parks and gardens for the large foliage and spikelike, usually red or yellow blosso...

redstart

(Encyclopedia)redstart, common name for an Old World thrush of the genus Phoenicurus, family Turdidae. A small, slender-legged songbird, it is found in woodlands, parks, and heaths. The European redstart, P. phoeni...

banana

(Encyclopedia)banana, name for several species of the genus Musa and for the fruits these produce. The banana plant—one of the largest herbaceous plants—is native to tropical Asia but now cultivated throughout ...