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Tarleton, Sir Banastre

(Encyclopedia)Tarleton, Sir Banastre băˈnəstər tärlˈtən [key], 1754–1833, British army officer in the American Revolution. He arrived (1775) in America with General Cornwallis and was a member of the patro...

Williams, Eleazer

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Eleazer ĕlēāˈzər [key], c.1787–1858, missionary among Native North Americans. He was the son of Thomas Williams, a St. Regis Native American chief, and a white woman; he was educated ...

bee-eater

(Encyclopedia)bee-eater, any of the brightly colored, insect-eating birds of the family Meropidae. They range in length from 6 to 14 in. (15–36 cm). The plumage of many species is predominantly green but usually ...

topaz

(Encyclopedia)topaz tōˈpăz [key], aluminum silicate mineral with either hydroxyl radicals or fluorine, Al2SiO4(F,OH)2, used as a gem. It is commonly colorless or some shade of pale yellow to wine-yellow; pale bl...

towhee

(Encyclopedia)towhee tōˈhē, tōhēˈ, to͞oˈhē [key], common name for a North American bird of the family Fringillidae (finch family). Towhees are also called chewinks, for their call, and ground robins, becau...

woodchuck

(Encyclopedia)woodchuck or groundhog, common name of a North American species of marmot, Marmota monax. This large rodent is found in open woods and ravines throughout most of Canada and the NE United States. Its h...

nitrogen cycle

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Nitrogen cycle nitrogen cycle, the continuous flow of nitrogen through the biosphere by the processes of nitrogen fixation, ammonification (decay), nitrification, and denitrification. Nitrogen...

moss, in botany

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Life cycle of a moss: A germinating spore forms a transitory branching structure on the soil surface, which develops into the conspicuous gametophyte, the familiar moss plant. Eggs and sperm ar...

lichen

(Encyclopedia)lichen līˈkən [key], usually slow-growing organism of simple structure, composed of fungi (see Fungi) and photosynthetic green algae or cyanobacteria living together in a symbiotic relationship and...

olive

(Encyclopedia)olive, common name for the Oleaceae, a family of trees and shrubs (including climbing forms) of warm temperate climates and of the Old World tropics, especially Asia and the East Indies. Many are popu...
 

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