Kids Encyclopedia

Pineapple — The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant and fruit (multiple), native to Uruguay, Brazil, Puerto Rico, or Paraguay. It is a medium tall (1–1.5 m) herbaceous perennial plant with 30 or more trough-shaped and pointed leaves 30–100 cm long, surrounding a thick stem. The pineapple is an example of a multiple fruit: multiple, spirally-arranged flowers along the …

Poinsettia — Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are flowers of Mexican origin, native to the Pacific coast of the United States, some parts of central and southern Mexico (including the Mexican Pacific coast), and a few localities in Guatemala. They are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Ambassador to Mexico (technically first U.S. envoy to Mexico), who introduced 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 …

Philodendron — Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants from the arum family (Araceae), consisting of close to 1000 or more species according to TROPICOS (a service of the Missouri Botanical Garden). Taxonomically it is still poorly known with many undescribed species. Many are grown as ornamental and indoor plants. The name derives from the Greek philo or “love” …

Petunia — Petunia is a, trumpet shaped, widely-cultivated genus of flowering plants of South American origin, in the family Solanaceae. The popular flower got its name from French, which took the word petun ‘tobacco’ from a Tupi-Guarani language. Most of the varieties seen in gardens are hybrids (Petunia x hybrida). The origin of P. x hybrida is thought the be …

Persimmon — A Persimmon is a fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family (Ebenaceae), and the edible fruit borne by them. The word persimmon is derived from putchamin, pasiminan, or pessamin, from Powhatan, an Algonquian language (related to Blackfoot, Cree and Mohican) of the eastern United States, meaning “a dry …

Peppermint — Peppermint (Mentha × piperita) is a hybrid mint, a cross between watermint (Mentha aquatica) and spearmint (Mentha spicata). It is native to western, central and southern Europe from the British Isles east to southern Scandinavia and western Russia, south to Iberia, and southeast to the Balkans, being found wild occasionally with its parent species. Peppermint is sometimes regarded …

Pepper (Vegetable) — Bell pepper is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, green and orange. Bell peppers contain a recessive gene that prevents capsaicin from being produced, so they lack the spiciness that many other varieties of peppers have. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less …

Pepper (Spice) — Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The same fruit is also used to produce white pepper, red/pink pepper, and green pepper. Black pepper is native to South India and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in …

Peony — The peony or paeony (Paeonia) is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America. Most are herbaceous perennial plants 0.5–1.5 metres tall, but some are woody shrubs up to 1.5–3 metres tall. They have compound, deeply lobed leaves, and large, often fragrant flowers, ranging from red …