Kids Encyclopedia

Hornbeam — Plants in the genus Carpinus (Cár-pi-nus) are commonly called Hornbeams. They are relatively small hardwood trees. Many botanists place the hornbeams in the birch family Betulaceae, though some group them with the hazels (Corylus) and hop-hornbeams (Ostrya) in a segregate family, Corylaceae. The 30-40 species occur across much of the north temperate regions, with the greatest number of …

Hops — Hops are the female flowers of the hop plant (Humulus lupulus). They are used primarily as a flavouring and stability agent in beer, and also for other beverages and in herbal medicine. The first documented use in beer is from the eleventh century. Hops contain several characteristics favourable to beer, balancing the sweetness of the malt with bitterness, …

Hop Hornbeam — Hophornbeam, Ostrya is a genus of eight to ten small deciduous trees belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. Its common name is Hophornbeam in American English and Hop-hornbeam in British English. It may also be called ironwood, a name shared with a number of other plants. The genus is native in southern Europe, southwest and eastern Asia, …

Honeysuckle — Honeysuckles Lonicera; syn. Caprifolium Mill.) are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, with by far the greatest diversity in China, where over 100 species occur; by comparison, Europe and North America have only about 20 native species each. Widely known species include Lonicera …

Honey Locust — The Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is a deciduous tree native to eastern North America. It is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys ranging from southeastern South Dakota to New Orleans and central Texas, and as far east as central Pennsylvania. Honey locusts can reach a height of 20–30 m (66–100 ft), with fast growth, …

Leadwort — Plumbago is a genus of 10-20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus Ceratostigma). The name Plumbago is derived from Latin plumbum (“lead”), either from the lead-blue flower colour of some species (OED), …

Hawthorn, English — Hawthorn (Crataegus) is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe, especially the Common Hawthorn C. monogyna, and the unmodified name is often so used in Britain …

Gladiolus — Gladiolus (from Latin, the diminutive of gladius, a sword) is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae). Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English common name for these plants is simply gladiolus (plural gladioli or gladioluses). The genus Gladiolus contains about 260 species, of which 250 are native to sub-Saharan Africa, mostly South …

Hollyhock — The hollyhocks comprise about 60 species of flowering plants in the genus Alcea in the mallow family Malvaceae, native to southwest and central Asia. They are biennial or short-lived perennial plants growing to 3.5 m tall, with broad, rounded, palmately lobed leaves and numerous flowers, pink or yellow in the wild species, on the erect central stem. Alcea …

Holly — Holly (Ilex) is a genus of about 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. One other genus, the monotypic Nemopanthus (Mountain Holly), was formerly separated from Ilex on the basis that its flowers have a reduced calyx and narrow petals, and also in cytology, being tetraploid, whereas Ilex …