Kids Encyclopedia

Monkey Puzzle Tree — Monkey-puzzle (Pehuen or Araucaria araucana) is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria. It is native to central Chile and west central Argentina, and is an evergreen tree growing to 40 m tall and 2 m trunk diameter. Because of species’ great age it is sometimes described as a living fossil. Araucaria araucana is the …

Mistletoe — Mistletoe is the common name for a group of hemi-parasitic plants in the order Santalales that grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub. Parasitism evolved only nine times in the plant kingdom; of those, the parasitic mistletoe habit has evolved independently five times: Misodendraceae, Loranthaceae, Santalaceae (formerly considered the separate family Eremolepidaceae), and …

Millet — The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult production environments. It was millets, rather than rice, that formed …

Melon — Muskmelon (Cucumis melo) is a species of melon that has been developed into many cultivated varieties. These include smooth skinned varietes, such as honeydew, and different netted cultivars known as cantaloupes (some of which, confusingly, may be particularly identified as “muskmelon”). The variety of cultivars from one species is similar to the wild cabbage, though less differentiated in …

Maple, Sugar — The tree species Acer saccharum is commonly known as the sugar maple. It is a prominent tree in the hardwood forests of northeastern North America. This maple normally reaches heights of 15 m (50 feet) to 24 m (80 feet) tall, and exceptionally up to 45 m (150 feet). The leaves are deciduous, 8-15 cm long and …

Maple, Silver — Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple; also occasionally Creek Maple, River Maple, Silverleaf Maple, Soft Maple, Water Maple, or White Maple) is a species of maple native to eastern North America in the eastern United States and adjacent parts of southeast Canada. It is a relatively fast-growing deciduous tree, commonly reaching a height of 20-30 m, exceptionally 35 m. …

Maple, Red — Acer rubrum (Red Maple, also known as Swamp or Soft Maple), is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas. Many of its features, …

Manioc — The cassava, manioc, casava, or yuca (Manihot esculenta) is a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. Indeed, cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in …

Mangrove — Mangroves (generally) are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics. The word is used in at least three senses, (1) most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are also used, (2) to refer to all trees …

Mango — The mango is a tropical fruit of the mango tree. Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera which consists of about 30 species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The exact origins of the mango are unknown, but most believe that it is native to Southern and Southeast Asia owing to the wide range of …