From about A.D. 800 the Norse sailors raided the coasts of northwest Europe, and the craft they used were the broad and shallow ‘longships’. The Vikings, as the Norsemen are commonly called today, set out from their creeks or fiords in Scandinavia and Denmark in early spring and late summer, and sailed away on long, bold searches for plunder. These …

Jan Egeland was born on September 12, 1957 in Stavanger, Norway. He was the United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from June 2003 to December 2006. Egeland was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and succeeded Kenzo Oshima. He traveled extensively, drawing attention to humanitarian emergencies. Egeland took up the position as director of the Norwegian Institute …

Maine, located in the extreme northeastern section of the United States, Maine is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Quebec on the northwest and New Brunswick on the north and east, by New Hampshire on the west, and by the Atlantic Ocean on the southeast and south. Although Maine is a relatively small state, it constitutes almost one-half of the …

Pine, Red — The Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) is a pine native to northeastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to southeast Manitoba, and south to northern Illinois and Pennsylvania, with a small outlying population in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. In the Upper Midwest of the United States it is sometimes known by the confusing name Norway Pine …

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 …

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 …

Heather — Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is the true Heather of Europe, and National Flower of Norway. However it also has an affiliation to Scotland. It is a small perennial shrub growing to 20-50 cm tall (rarely to 1 m), and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor …

Coconut — The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the Family Arecaceae (palm family). It is the only species in the genus Cocos, and is a large palm, growing to 30 m tall, with pinnate leaves 4-6 m long, pinnae 60-90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly leaving the trunk smooth. The term coconut refers to the …

Beech European — The European Beech or Common Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. The natural range extends from southern Sweden (with some isolated locations in southern Norway) to central Italy, west to France, northern Portugal, and central Spain, and east to northwest Turkey, where it intergrades with the Oriental Beech (F. orientalis), …

Ash, European — Fraxinus excelsior (Ash; also European Ash or Common Ash on occasion to distinguish it from other ash species), is a species of Fraxinus native to most of Europe with the exception of northern Scandinavia and southern Iberia, and also southwestern Asia from northern Turkey east to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains. The northernmost location is in the …