Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Manzanillo, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Manzanillo, city (1990 pop. 67,697), Colima state, SW Mexico. One of Mexico's chief Pacific ports, Manzanillo has a fine harbor and modern rail and highway connections with Mexico City. It handles man...

chicle

(Encyclopedia)chicle chĭkˈəl [key], name for the gum obtained from the latex of the sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapota), a tropical American evergreen. The sapodilla (known also by many other common names) is wide...

monitor, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)monitor, any of various, mostly tropical lizards. A monitor lizard has a heavy body, long head and neck, long tail that comes to a whiplike end, and strong legs with sharp claws. Its slender, forked t...

kapok

(Encyclopedia)kapok kāˈpŏk, kăpˈək [key], name for a tropical tree of the family Bombacaceae (bombax family) and for the fiber (floss) obtained from the seeds in the ripened pods. The floss has been important...

thresher shark

(Encyclopedia)thresher shark, long-tailed, warm-water shark, genus Alopias. The upper fork of its tail is slender and sickle-shaped and is about equal in length to the rest of the body. This shark uses its tail str...

yam

(Encyclopedia)yam, common name for some members of the Dioscoreaceae, a family of tropical and subtropical climbing herbs or shrubs with starchy rhizomes often cultivated for food. The largest genus, Dioscorea, is ...

San Luis Potosí, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)San Luis Potosí sän lo͞oēsˈ pōtōsēˈ [key], state (1990 pop. 2,003,187), 24,417 sq mi (63,240 sq km), central Mexico. San Luis Potosí is the capital. Most of the state lies on the eastern tab...

myrtle

(Encyclopedia)myrtle, common name for the Myrtaceae, a family of shrubs and trees almost entirely of tropical regions, especially in America and Australia. The family is characterized by leaves (usually evergreen) ...

Bilauktaung

(Encyclopedia)Bilauktaung bēloukˈtoun [key], mountain range, extending c.250 mi (400 km) along the Thailand-Myanamar border from the Dawna Range SE to the Isthmus of Kra. The western slopes of the range, which re...

ylang-ylang

(Encyclopedia)ylang-ylang ēˈläng-ēˈläng [key], perfume oil obtained by distillation of the fragrant flowers of Cananga odorata, a large tropical Asian tree of the custard-apple family. The oil is highly value...