Kids Encyclopedia

Kingdom: Plantae Family: Solanaceae Order: Solanales Genus: Physalis Chinese Lantern Plant — Chinese Lantern Plant, common name for a herbaceous perennial (a plant that lives at least three years) grown in gardens for its showy fruit. It is native to southeastern Europe and Japan and can survive winter temperatures as low as -40° C (-40° F). In colder regions, it …

Georgia, is the largest state east of the Mississippi River. Its territory extends from the Sea Islands on the Atlantic shore to the forested mountains of the southern Appalachians. Georgia shares borders with five states, bounded on the east by South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Alabama, on the north by Tennessee and North Carolina, and …

Rhode Island State, one of the 13 original colonies and the smallest of the 50 states, is bounded on the north and east by Massachusetts, on the south by Rhode Island Sound, and on the west by Connecticut. The state is almost cut in two parts by NARRAGANSETT BAY, which reaches 45 km (28 mi) to the state capital of …

Washington State, named in honor of the nation’s first president and popularly known as the Evergreen State because of its extensive forests, is located in the extreme northwestern corner of the continental United States. The Canadian province of British Columbia lies to the north, and the states of Idaho and Oregon form Washington’s eastern and southern borders. Puget Sound and …

Vermont State is the northwestern most and second-largest in land area of the New England states. Its name is derived from the French phrase monts verts, “green mountains”, just as its capital, MONTPELIER, is named for the French city of Montpellier. Samuel de Champlain in 1609 was the first European to explore the region, and Lake Champlain in the northwestern …

Virginia State, often regarded as the gateway to the South, occupies the middle position on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. Named for Elizabeth I, England’s “Virgin Queen”, the state is also known as the Old Dominion–in recognition of the decision of Charles II to make the colony a fourth dominion of his realm, after England, Scotland, and Ireland–and …

Oregon State, one of the states of the northwest, lies along the Pacific Ocean coast. It is bordered by the state of Washington on the north, Idaho on the east, and Nevada and California on the south. Oregon State ranks 9th in area among the U.S. states with 254,819 sq km (98,386 sq mi), and 29th in population with 2,842,321 …

Wyoming State, one of the Mountain States of the western United States, is the tenth largest state in area but the least populated state in the nation. It extends 443 km (275 mi) from north to south and 587 km (365 mi) from east to west and includes within its four straight borders an area of 253,349 sq km (97,818 …

West Virginia State, the only landlocked South Atlantic state, is bordered by Pennsylvania on the north, Maryland and Virginia on the east, and Kentucky and Ohio on the west. Very irregular in shape, with two panhandles–a northern one jutting up between Pennsylvania and Ohio and an eastern one squeezed by Maryland and Virginia–West Virginia has about five-sixths of its 1,880-km …

Massachusetts State is a small state in the northeastern United States that has made contributions to the nation far greater than its size might suggest. The state, roughly rectangular in shape, is the seventh smallest in area. It lies at the center of New England, with Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine to the north and Rhode Island and Connecticut to …