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The Probert Encyclopaedia of Nature

FABELLA

The fabellae are small sesamoid bones situated behind the condyles of the femur, in some mammals.
Research Fabella

FABRIANESE

The Fabrianese is a breed of sheep found in Ancona Province, Marche Region of Italy. The Fabrianese is a course wool breed kept for both meat and milk production. The breed is polled and exhibits a Roman nose. It originated from local Apennine crossed to Bergamasca.
Research Fabrianese

FABROSAURUS

Fabrosaurus was a tiny dinosaur of the Jurassic period. A herbivore, Fabrosaurus was about 1 meter long, walking on its hind legs and standing about 309 cm tall. It was a lightly built animal with strong arms and hands. The first remains of
Fabrosaurus were found in 1964 and comprised a piece of jaw and a few teeth.
Research Fabrosaurus

FACE MITE

The face mite (Demdex folliculorum) is a small, elongated mite which is parasitic in the hair follicles of the human face.
Research Face Mite

FACET

In zoology, the term facet refers to a single segment of a compound eye.
Research Facet

FACIES

The term facies is used to describe the face of a bird, or the front of the head, excluding the bill.
Research Facies

FAIRY BIRD

Fairy bird is a popular name for the European little tern (Sterna minuta).
Research Fairy Bird

FAIRY MARTIN

The fairy martin (Hirrundo ariel) is a European swallow that builds flask- shaped nests of mud on overhanging cliffs.
Research Fairy Martin

FAIRY SHRIMP

The fairy shrimp (Chirocephalus diaphanus) is a European fresh-water phyllopod crustacean. It is so called from its delicate colours, transparency, and graceful motions. The name is also sometimes applied to similar American species.
Research Fairy Shrimp

FAIRY-RING MUSHROOM

The fairy-ring mushroom (Marasmius oreades) is a pale red coloured mushroom with white gills.
Research Fairy-ring Mushroom

FALABELLA

Picture of Falabella

The Falabella is an Argentine breed of pony developed during the 19th century. They are miniature horses, standing 9 hands high, and are friendly and intelligent but liable to be temperamental at times.
Research Falabella

FALAGRIA

Picture of Falagria

Falagria is a genus of rove beetles, Staphylinidae. Most of the species live under rotting vegetation and have a characteristic ant-like form.
Research Falagria

FALANAKA

Falanaka is the native name for the falanouc (Eupleres Goudotii), a viverrine mammal of Madagascar allied to the civet.
Research Falanaka

FALCER

A falcer is one of the mandibles of a spider.
Research Falcer

FALCONIDAE

Falconidae is the Falcon family of the Accipitres order of birds. The beak is hooked and generally furnished with a sharp projection or tooth on each side. The head is wholly covered with feathers apart from the cere. The feet are strong and armed with curved, retractile, sharp talons.
Research Falconidae

FALCONINOE

The Falconinoe are the Merlin, Hobby and Kestril sub-family of the Falconidae family of birds. They are characterised by a short, strong beak curved from the base. The upper mandible is strongly toothed, the lower notched. The nostrils are round. The tarsi is short and strong. The wings are long and pointed, with the second primary longest, the first and third equal in length and having the inner web notched near the extremity.
Research Falconinoe

FALCULA

In zoology, a falcula is a curved and sharp-pointed claw.
Research Falcula

FALCULATE

In zoology, the term falculate refers to something being curved and sharp-pointed, like a falcula, or the claw of a falcon.
Research Falculate

FALL

Fall is the collective noun for a group of woodcock.
Research Fall

FALLOW-DEER

Picture of Fallow-deer

The fallow-deer (Cervus dama) is a medium-sized species of deer, standing about one meter tall and distinguished by the end of the antler being palmated (flattened and expanded). It is found wild in Asia Minor, but was introduced into Britain in the early part of the 15th century. Two varieties are found in Britain, one which is fawn coloured with white spots and the other dark brown.
Research Fallow-deer

FALSE ACACIA

False acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a highly poisonous deciduous tree of the family Leguminosae, native to North America, with stout paired spines on the branches. The bark is brown at first, turning a grey colour later, furrowed and twisted. The leaves are alternate, bluish-green beneath, and odd pinnate with between seven and fifteen oval, stalked, entire leaflets with small spines at their tips. The flowers are fragrant, white in colour and arranged in pendulous racemes which grow from the leaf axils of young shoots. The fruit is a smooth, flat, brown coloured pod with black or dark brown seeds. False acacia was introduced into France in the 17th century, being grown as an ornamental tree, especially in towns. It spreads aggressively by way of suckers, and is sometimes planted to form thickets. The timber is hard and close-grained, formerly used for ship building, now used for floors and turned objects.
Research False Acacia

FALSE GRAYLING

The False Grayling (Arethusana arethusa) is a butterfly of the family Satyridae found in steppes in southern and central Europe and western Asia.
Research False Grayling

FALSE HELLEBORINE

Picture of False Helleborine

False Helleborine, also known as White Hellebore and White Veratrum (Veratrum album) is a highly poisonous perennial bulbous herb of the family Liliaceae, native to southern and central Europe where it grows in damp meadows in the hills and mountains, often forming spreading masses. It has a massive root system, a short vertical rhizome covered with remnants of old leaf stalks, and a robust, unbranched stem. The leaves are alternate, broadly ovate to elliptic and have sheathing bases and are longitudinally grooved along the prominent veins. The flowers are numerous, yellowish-green in colour and arranged in compound panicles, the lower-most flowers being bisexual and the upper ones usually male. The fruit is a downy capsule. The rhizome and roots of False Helleborine contain several toxic alkaloids including veratrine, protoveratrine A and protoveratrine B which widen the lumen of blood vessels, and lower blood pressure. The roots and rhizome are used in medicine to prepare anti-hypersensitivity and heart medicines.
Although formerly used in herbal medicine, the practise is now banned in Britain due to the extreme toxicity of the plant, only one or two grams being sufficient to cause collapse, severe vomiting, diarrhoea, breathing difficulties and death.
Research False Helleborine

FALSE POWDER-POST BEETLES

The False Powder-post Beetles are the Bostrychidae family of insects of the order Coleoptera. The members of the family have a cylindrical body and often resemble bark beetles. The pronotum covers the head like a hood. They tunnel in wood and live to a fair age. The one British species is now thought to be extinct.
Research False Powder-post Beetles

FAMILY

Family is the collective noun for a group of sardines.
Research Family

FANTAIL

The fantail is a variety of domestic pigeon, so called from the shape of the tail. The name fantail is applied in Australia to birds of the genus Rhipidura, in which the tail is spread in the form of a fan during flight. They belong to the family of flycatchers.
Research Fantail

FARSETIA

Farsetia is a genus of hardy and half-hardy cruciferous plants, mostly natives of Southern Europe and North Africa. The stems and leaves of all species are covered in a fine down.
Research Farsetia

FASCIOLA

Fasciola is a member of the order Digenea.
Research Fasciola

FATSIA

Fatsia is a genus of half-hardy shrubs belonging to the family Araliaceae.
Research Fatsia

FATSIA PAPYRIFERA

Fatsia Papyrifera is a Taiwanese shrub growing to about 2.5 meters tall, with noble heart-shaped leaves upwards of 30 centimetres in length. It bears drooping clusters of small greenish-white flowers. The Chinese rice paper is prepared from the pith the which fills the stem.
Research Fatsia Papyrifera

FAVEROLLE

The Faverolle is a breed of chicken.
Research Faverolle

FEA VIPER

The Fea Viper (Azemiops feae) is a venomous snake of the subfamily Azemiops of the Viper family (Viperidae) found in northern Burma, northern Vietnam, south and central China and south-eastern Tibet.
Research Fea Viper

FEATHERED EAR

Picture of Feathered Ear

The Feathered Ear (Pachetra sagittigera) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 35 and 45 mm found in the warmer parts of Europe and east through Asia to southern Siberia where it can be found in steppes and forest-steppes producing usually a single generation that flies from May to June, and rarely a second generation in August.
Research Feathered Ear

FEATHERED GOTHIC

Picture of Feathered Gothic

The Feathered Gothic (Tholera decimalis) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 32 and 45 mm found in temperate Europe and Asia flying from August to September.
Research Feathered Gothic

FEATHERED HORN

The Feathered Horn (Colotois pennaria) is a moth of the family Geometridae with a wing span of between 35 and 45 mm found in Europe and western and central Asia in deciduous forests and forest-steppes flying from September to November.
Research Feathered Horn

FELIDAE

Felidae is the cat family of mammals of the order Carnivora (the carnivores).
Research Felidae

FELL PONY

Picture of Fell Pony

The Fell Pony is a native English pony found around the Pennines and in Cumbria. The Fell Pony stands 14 hands high, is black, dark brown, bay or grey in colour and has a placid and good natured temperament. They are a versatile, surefooted and sensible pony making them ideal as riding horses for children and the nervous.
Research Fell Pony

FENNEC

Picture of Fennec

The fennec (Fennecus verda) is a small nocturnal desert fox found in north Africa and Arabia. The fennec is whitish or buff-coloured, with a short, black-tipped tail and large ears. It is nocturnal, and lives in burrows, and feeds on jerboas, lizards, small birds and the like.
Research Fennec

FENNEL

Picture of Fennel

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a perennial plant of the family Umbelliferae. It has an erect stem 80 - 100 cm high, numerous leaves deeply divided into soft hair-like segments and large terminal umbels of yellow flowers. The plant is aromatic, and the leaves are used in cooking.
Research Fennel

FENUGREEK

Picture of Fenugreek

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is an annual herb of the family Leguminosae native to the Mediterranean region, with an erect or prostrate, smooth, little-branched stem and trifoliate leaves, the leaflets oblanceolate to rectangular and slightly toothed. The unstalked flowers are yellowish-white with a violet tinge and are solitary or arranged in pairs in the upper leaf axils. The fruit is a hairless, slender, slightly curved pod with an extended tip. Fenugreek has been cultivated since ancient times as fodder, for medicinal and for culinary purposes. In medicine the seeds are used as a tonic, to ease coughing and to stimulate milk flow.
Research Fenugreek

FER DE LANCE

Picture of Fer de Lance

The Fer de Lance or Rat-tailed Snake (Bothrops atrox) is one of the species of pit vipers found in the West Indies and tropical America. It grows to about two meters in length, has a deadly bite, and is variously coloured but usually reddish-yellow with irregular dark bands and spots.
Research Fer de Lance

FERRARIA

Ferraria is a genus of dwarf bulbous Cape plants belonging to the family Iridaceae. The leaves are glaucous, and more or less encircle the stems, surmounting which are many-flowered spathes, the stigmas of which are petaloid and fringed.
Research Ferraria

FERRET

Picture of Ferret

The Ferret (Mustela furo) is the albino variety of domesticated polecat used for driving rabbits from their burrows. The ferret, being albino, is generally white in colour with pink eyes, but they often cross-breed with polecats to produce other coloured variations.
Research Ferret

FESCUE

Fescue is a genus of grasses having numerous spikelets, each of several flowers, in a compact or spreading panicle.
Research Fescue

FESNYNG

Fesnyng is the collective noun for a group of ferrets.
Research Fesnyng

FESTOON MOTH

Picture of Festoon Moth

The Festoon Moth (Apoda limacodes) is a moth of the family Limacodidae with a wing span of between 20 and 30 mm found in the deciduous forests of Europe and the Middle East and south Asia. A single generation is produced flying from May to August, usually in oak forests.
Research Festoon Moth

FEVERFEW

Picture of Feverfew

Feverfew (Pyrethrum Parthenium) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Compositae. It bears numerous small heads of flowers on an erect stem, with the lower flowers borne on longer stalks so that the whole inflorescence reaches the same level. The flowers have white ray florets. The leaves are stalked, repeatedly cut, curled and delicate green.
Research Feverfew

FEVILLEA

Fevillea is a genus of tropical climbing shrub belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae.
Research Fevillea

FIDDLER CRAB

Picture of Fiddler Crab

The Fiddler Crab of Calling Crab (Gelasimus arcuatus) is a genus of crustacean of the order Decapoda, family Ocypodidae. It gets its name from the male's distinctive larger claw which it has the habit of holding up as though beckoning or calling and makes him look as though he is carrying a fiddle and bow.
Fiddler Crabs are solitary, shore-living animals which inhabit burrows around the coast of Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia. In Africa and Japan they are called the Calling Crab.
Research Fiddler Crab

FIELD TIGER BEETLE

Picture of Field Tiger Beetle

The Field Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris) or Green Tiger Beetle, is a beetle of the ground beetle family, Carabidae, found in Britain and Europe, and ranging from about ten to fifteen millimetres in length with a bright, emerald-green body.
Research Field Tiger Beetle

FIELD-MADDER

Field-madder (Sherardia arvensis) is a common little branching weed of the family Rubiaceae, with pointed leaves arranged in whorls, and bearing in late summer little umbels of tiny pinkish flowers with funnel shaped corollas.
Research Field-madder

FIELDFARE

Picture of Fieldfare

The Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) is a native European and Asian thrush. It has a brown back, mottled breast and a grey head. It lives in woodland and farmland where it eats fruit, insects, worms and slugs.
Research Fieldfare

FIG

Figs are plants of the genus Ficus, woody trees and shrubs from the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. The common edible fig is the fruit of Ficus carica, a small tree with large, rough, leathery leaves lobed like a hand, rough green branches and almost sessile fruits of peculiar internal structure, consisting of a large, much curved receptacle on which are borne numerous unisexual flowers interspersed with hairs.
Research Fig

FIG-SHELLS

The fig-shells (Pyrula) are gastropods mostly living in tropical seas. They have elongated pear-shaped shells with a short spire and a long canal. The foot is broad and truncated in front, the mantle lobed, the lobes being reflected over the shell, and nearly meeting above.
Research Fig-shells

FIGHTING-FISH

The fighting-fish is a name given to Betta pugnax, a bony fish found in the streams of Thailand, on account of its pugnacious habits.
Research Fighting-fish

FIGURE OF EIGHTY

Picture of Figure Of Eighty

The Figure of Eighty is a moth of the family Thyatiridae with a wing pan of between 32 and 38 mm found in Europe and Asia in damp localities. Two generations are produced flying from May to August.
Research Figure Of Eighty

FIGURE-OF-EIGHT

Picture of Figure-Of-Eight

The Figure-Of-Eight (Diloba caeruleocephala) is the only species of moth of the family Dilobidae. It is found in the warmer parts of Europe, particularly around the Mediterranean. It flies during October.
Research Figure-Of-Eight

FIGWORT

Figwort (Scrophularia) is a genus of flowering plants of the family Scrophulariaceae.
Research Figwort

FILARIA

Filaria is a Phylum nematoda.
Research Filaria

FILE-FISH

The File-fish (Trigger-fish) are bony fishes found mostly in tropical and warm seas, distinguished by their hard mail-like scales, powerful jaws, and teeth adapted for biting through the shells of molluscs and stripping off pieces of coral to get at the soft parts for food. They are also called trigger-fish from the way the first spine of the dorsal fin snaps back when elevated.
Research File-fish

FILIBRANCHIATA

The Filibranchiata are an order of the Lamellibranchs in which the gills consist of filaments only loosely connected, instead of forming the plate- like structures characteristic of the higher Lamellibranchs.
Research Filibranchiata

FILLY

A filly is a female, young horse (foal).
Research Filly

FIN

Fins are expansions of the skin or body wall, or the equivalent of limbs, by means of which aquatic animals preserve their balance and swim.
Research Fin

FINCH

The finch is a popular name for birds of the family Fringillidae.
Research Finch

FINFOOT

Picture of Finfoot

The finfoot is a water-bird native to Central America, South Africa and southern Asia. It is slender with a long pointed bill and toes with side lobes. It lives fresh or brackish water margins where it eats small animals and some plant material.
Research Finfoot

FINNISH DRAFT

Picture of Finnish Draft

The Finnish Draft is a Finnish breed of heavy horse standing 15 hands high used for hard agricultural work. They are chestnut in colour and have a fast-stepping stride.
Research Finnish Draft

FINNISH SPITZ

Picture of Finnish Spitz

The Finnish Spitz is a Finnish breed of hound, standing about 45 cm tall, with a shaggy reddish coat. The Finnish Spitz is the national dog of Finland and has an alert demeanour, pricked ears and a tail that extends forward over the back. The breed was developed for flushing game birds and tracking bears and elks. As a pet the Finnish Spitz is an excellent family dog or guard dog though it has a tendency to bark a lot.
Research Finnish Spitz

FINNISH UNIVERSAL

The Finnish Universal is a Finnish breed of versatile horse endowered with pulling power, speed, endurance and agility. The Finnish Universal stands 15.2 hands high and is mostly chestnut in colour, though they can also be bay, grey, black or brown in colour. Many Finnish Universal horses have a white blaze on their face and long, coarse forelocks and mane.
Research Finnish Universal

FIRECREST

Picture of Firecrest

The firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus) is a small bird native to Europe, north Africa and Madeira. The head has an orange stripe and white markings above the eyes resembling eyebrows. It lives in woodland or scrubland where it eats insects. It is Europe's smallest breeding bird.
Research Firecrest

FIREFLY

Firefly is a popular name for winged insects possessing luminosity.
Research Firefly

FISH

Fish (Pisces) are an aquatic class of vertebrates. There are more kinds of fish than all other kinds of aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates put together. The smallest fish is the Trimmaton nanus, a goby of the Indian Ocean, which grows to about one centimetre long. The largest fish is the whale shark, which may grow more than 12 meters long and weigh over 14 metric tons. It feeds on plankton and is completely harmless to most other fish and to human beings. The most dangerous fish weigh only a few kilograms. They include the deadly stonefish, whose poisonous spines can kill a human being in minutes.

Fish live almost anywhere there is water. They are found in the near- freezing waters of the Arctic and in the steaming waters of tropical jungles. They live in roaring mountain streams and in quiet underground rivers. Some fish make long journeys across the ocean. Others spend most of their life buried in sand on the bottom of the ocean. Most fish never leave water. Yet some fish are able to survive for months in dried-up riverbeds.

Fish have enormous importance to human beings. They provide food for millions of people. Fishing enthusiasts catch them for sport, and people keep them as pets. In addition, fish are important in the balance of nature. They eat plants and animals and, in turn, become food for plants and animals.

Fish thus help keep in balance the total number of plants and animals on the earth. All fish have two main features in common. (1) They have a backbone, and so they are vertebrates. (2) They breathe mainly by means of gills. Nearly all fish are also cold-blooded animals - that is, they cannot regulate their body temperature, which changes with the temperature of their surroundings. In addition, almost all fish have fins, which they use for swimming. All other water animals differ from fish in at least one of these ways. Dolphins, porpoises, and whales look like fish and have a backbone and fins, but they are mammals. Mammals breathe with lungs rather than gills. They are also warm-blooded - their body temperature remains about the same when the air or water temperature changes. Some water animals are called fish, but they do not have a backbone and so are not fish. These animals include jellyfish and starfish. Clams, crabs, lobsters, oysters, scallops, and shrimps are called shellfish. But they also lack a backbone.

The first fish appeared on the earth about 500 million years ago. They were the first animals to have a backbone. Most scientists believe that these early fish became the ancestors of all other vertebrates.
Research Fish

FISH HAWK

Fish hawk is an American name for the Osprey.
Research Fish hawk

FISH-LOUSE

The fish-louse are several crustaceans of the order Ichthyophthira which are parasitic on fish.
Research Fish-louse

FISHER

Picture of Fisher

The fisher or pekan (Martes pennanti) is a mammal related to the marten and native to North America. It is about one meter long with a thick brown-black coat and lives in dense forest where it eats small animals, birds and carrion.
Research Fisher

FISSIROSTAL

In the classification of birds, Fissirostal refers to members of the Fissirostres tribe of Passerine birds.
Research Fissirostal

FISSIROSTRES

The Fissirostres are the wide-gaped tribe of passerine birds. They are characterized by a broad bill, more or less flattened horizontally, and often hooked at the tip, with the mouth very deeply cleft. The upper mandible is not notched. The feet are small and feeble. Most of the species feed on insects, which they catch on the wing, but at least one genus eats fish. The species are mostly natives of tropical regions, visiting temperate regions as migratory visitors.
Research Fissirostres

FISSURELLIDAE

Fissurellidae (keyhole limpets) is a family of gastropod molluscs resembling the limpets in appearance and habits, but differing in structure. They are generally too large for their shell, and so it appears that the shell is rudimentary.
Research Fissurellidae

FISTULARIA

Fistularia is a genus of acanthopterygious fish characterized by the elongation of the facial bones into a long fistula or tube at the extremity of which the mouth opens.
Research Fistularia

FISTULINA

Fistulina is a genus of Fungi, allied to Boletus, found on old oak, walnut, ash, beech and horse chestnut trees. It is eaten in Europe grilled and is said to taste like broiled meat.
Research Fistulina

FITZROYA

Fitzroya is a genus of small, evergreen, hardy and half-hardy coniferous trees.
Research Fitzroya

FIVE SPOT LADYBIRD

Picture of Five Spot Ladybird

The Five Spot Ladybird (Coccinella quinquepunctata) is a species of ladybird similar to the Seven Spot Ladybird, but smaller at between three and five millimetres in length, and with a more variable pattern of spots on the elytra.
Research Five Spot Ladybird

FIVE-SPOT BURNET

Picture of Five-Spot Burnet

The Five-spot Burnet (Zygaena trifolii) is a moth of the family Zygaenidae with a wing span of between 28 and 33 mm found in North Africa, Europe and Western Asia flying from May to August.
Research Five-Spot Burnet

FLABELLUM

Flabellum is a genus of solitary corals related to fungi, some of whose species show well-marked alternation of generations.
Research Flabellum

FLAME MOTH

Picture of Flame Moth

The Flame Moth (Axylia putris) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 27 and 32 mm distributed throughout the temperate Palaearctic, producing a single generation that flies from May to August.
Research Flame Moth

FLAME SHOULDER

Picture of Flame Shoulder

The Flame Shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) is a European moth of the family Noctuidae, now found all other world. The moth, with a wing span measuring 25 to 30 mm, produces two generations flying from May to July and July to September.
Research Flame Shoulder

FLAMINGO

The flamingo is a bird of the genus Phoenicopterus allied to the ducks. The
flamingo has long legs and stands about 180 centimetres tall. The beak is naked, lamellate at the edges and bent.
Flamingos are generally pink or scarlet in colour and live in southern Europe and northern Africa around sea coasts and salt marshes.
Research Flamingo

FLAT-COATED RETRIEVER

Picture of Flat-Coated Retriever

The Flat-Coated Retriever is a breed of dog originating in Newfoundland and introduced to Britain in 1860. Until the Great War the Flat- Coated Retriever was the most popular retriever breed in Britain, but then the Golden Retriever and Labrador Retriever took over the popularity. They are a hardy breed, responsive to training and make good house pets.
Research Flat-Coated Retriever

FLATWORM

Flatworm is a common name for the Phylum platyhelminthes division of animals.
Research Flatworm

FLAX

Picture of Flax

Flax or linseed is a popular name of plants of the genus Linum, family Linaceae of which there are roughly 100 species. They are herbs or small shrubs with narrow leaves and yellow, blue or white flowers arranged in variously formed cymes.
Research Flax

FLAX TORTRIX

Picture of Flax Tortrix

The Flax Tortrix (Cnephasia interjectana) is a moth of the family Tortricidae with a wing span of between 10 and 15 mm found in forest steppes in Europe and Asia and also on agricultural land flying from June to July.
Research Flax Tortrix

FLEA

The flea is several insects constituting the order Aphaniptera. They are small with two eyes, six feet and piercing stilets and a suctorial proboscis which is used to feed on the blood of animals. They can leap amazing distances.
Research Flea

FLEA-BEETLE

Flea-beetles are a group of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) with stout hind femora that enable them to jump long distances. They are a significant pest as hibernating beetles often emerge in the spring and may destroy an entire crop.
Research Flea-Beetle

FLEUTIAUXELLUS

Picture of Fleutiauxellus

Fleutiauxellus is a genus of small click beetle (Elateridae), about three millimetres in length.
Research Fleutiauxellus

FLIGHT

Flight is the collective noun for a group of dunlins.
Research Flight

FLINDERSIA

Flindersia is a genus of tropical and sub-tropical evergreen trees. They are mostly Australian trees.
Research Flindersia

FLING

Fling is the collective noun for a group of oxbirds.
Fling is the collective noun for a group of sandpipers.
Research Fling

FLOAT

Float is the collective noun for a group of crocodiles.
Research Float

FLOCK

Flock is the collective noun for a group of sheep.
Flock is the collective noun for a group of birds.
Flock is the collective noun for a group of swifts.
Research Flock

FLORIDA CRACKER HORSE

Picture of Florida Cracker Horse

The Florida Cracker Horse is an American breed of horse registered since 1989, but tracing its ancestry back to the original Spanish horses introduced to the Florida are in the 16th century. The Florida Cracker Horse stands between 14 and 15 hands high and is renowned for its endurance, being able to carry a man all day, which led to their adoption by early cowboys. They occur in many colours.
Research Florida Cracker Horse

FLOUNCED CHESTNUT

Picture of Flounced Chestnut

The Flounced Chestnut (Agrochola helvola) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 30 and 35 mm found in Europe and Western and Central Asia flying from August until October.
Research Flounced Chestnut

FLOUNCED RUSTIC

Picture of Flounced Rustic

The Flounced Rustic (Luperina testacea) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 30 and 35 mm found in mild parts of Europe and western Asia flying from July to September.
Research Flounced Rustic

FLOUNDER

Picture of Flounder

The flounder (Pleuronectes flesus) is one of the flat-fishes of the family Pleuronectidae. The flounder is found in the sea and near the mouths of large rivers around the British coast.
Research Flounder

FLOWER

Picture of Flower

Technically, a flower is the seed-bearing part of a plant. The term is however, popularly used to describe a bloom or blossom when brightly coloured. The flower of a higher plant consists of one or two whorls of enveloping leaves surrounding the stamen and, or, carpels, which are the organs essential for sexual reproduction.
Research Flower
More pictures of Flower

FLUKE

Fluke is a parasitic flatworm that causes rot and dropsy of the liver.
Research Fluke

FLUSTRA

Flustra is a genus of Ployzoa, often called the sea-mats.
Research Flustra

FLY-CATCHER

Picture of Fly-Catcher

The fly-catcher is several species of insectivorous birds of the genus Muscicapa with a bill flattened at the base, almost triangular, notched at the upper mandible and beset with bristles. They perch on branches and wait motionless for passing insects which they dart at and catch with a snap of the bill.
Research Fly-Catcher

FLYING FISH

Flying fish is a name for several species of bony fishes in which the pectoral fins are lengthened and wing-like and serve to sustain the fish in its short flights through the air.
Research Flying Fish

FLYING GURNARD

The Flying Gurnard (Trigla volitans) is a Mediterranean fish of the Gurnard genus.
Research Flying Gurnard

FLYING LEMUR

The flying lemur (Cologus) is an insectivorous mammal not related to the lemurs, but more nearly akin to the Insectivores, differing however, sufficiently to be placed in a distinct order, the Dermoptera. Flying lemurs are found from the Malay Peninsular to the Philippine Islands, are represented by several species, all arboreal in habit and feeding on leaves and fruit.
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FLYING-FOX

The flying-fox or fox-bat is a fruit-eating bat of the family Pteropidae including some of the largest of the bats, one species reaching 140 centimetres in length across the wings! Flying-foxes are found in Australia, Asia and Africa.
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FLYING-SQUIRREL

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The flying-squirrel is approximately 35 species, mainly Asian, of rodent animals that make up the subfamily Petauristinae of the squirrel family, Sciuridae. The skin of the flank, extending between the fore and hind legs allows them to glide and make great leaps. Flying-squirrels are found in Europe, Asia and North America.
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FOAL

A foal is a young horse.
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FOETIDIA

Foetidia is a genus of trees belonging to the family Myrtaceae.
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FOMES

Fomes are a genus of bracket fungi forming corky or woody perennial shelf- like sporophores often of large size. The genus includes some species that cause destructive heartrot in trees.
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FOOL'S PARSLEY

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Fool's Parsley is a slender plant of the family Umbelliferae. It grows to 30 centimetres tall with dark green, doubly pinnate leaves, and terminal compound umbels of white flowers.
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FORAMINIFERA

Foraminifera is an order of animals of low type belonging to the class Rhizopoda, of the Phylum Protozoa, furnished with a shell or test, simple or complex, usually perforated by pores called foramina from which the animals get their name.
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FOREST FLY

The forest fly is a fly so called from its abundance in the New Forest. It is an external parasite on horses and cattle, is flat in form, leathery in consistency, and has legs specially adapted for clinging to the hair of its host. Although possessing wings, it rarely uses them. It is a pupiparous fly, giving birth to a single larva which quickly turns into a pupa.
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FORESTER

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The Foresetr (Adscita statices) is a moth of the family Zygaenidae with a wing span of between 22 and 28 mm found in Europe and western Asia in damp meadows, forest clearings and flowery meadows, flying from May to August.
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FORGET-ME-NOT

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Forget-me-not is a common British plant of the family Boraginaceae found growing in damp or wet places. It is a pretty flower considered as the emblem of friendship throughout Europe.
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FORKING LARKSPUR

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Forking larkspur (Delphinium consolida) or field larkspur as it is also known, is a highly poisonous annual or biennial herb of the family Ranunculaceae with a slender tap root and an erect, branched, leafy stem. The leaves are sessile, alternate and palmate with the segments finely divided. The flowers are blue and have a pronounced upward-curving spur which secrets nectar. The flowers are arranged in a terminal spike. The fruit is a follicle with flattened, black, pitted seeds.
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FORMICIVORA

Formicivora is a genus of South American birds. They are related to the American fly-catchers and feed upon ants and other insects.
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FORMICOIDEA

Formicoidea is the ant super-family of insects of the sub-order Apocrita, order Hymenoptera. Ants are small or medium sized, mostly yellow, brownish, brownish-black or black in colour and with angled antennae of up to fifteen segments. The petiole between the thorax and abdomen is either a knot-like single segment, or bearing a vertical scale, or two-segmented. Ants live communally, the nest being founded by the female who either finds her own site or penetrates a nest of some other ants - either of her own species or another. An ant nest contains three castes: one or more queens; workers; and at certain periods winged males. The queen ant is originally winged, but after the mating flight sheds her wings. The workers are either all identical, or occur in several forms - large headed worker ants are popularly known as 'soldier ants'. Ants are omnivorous and often cultivate aphids for their secretions.
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FORMICOMUS

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Formicomus is a genus of beetle of the family Anthicidae.
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FOSSA

The fossa or Foussa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is a large carnivorous mammal found only in Madagascar. It is about the size of an otter, but is related to the civet and mongoose. It is brown in colour, has a long tail, short legs, teeth like a cat's and lives mainly in trees feeding on birds and small mammals.
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FOUR-SPOTTED MOTH

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The Four-spotted Moth (Tyta luctuosa) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 22 and 25 mm found in the Palaearctic on grassy hillsides and in steppes flying at night when it is attracted by lights, and on sunny days. Two generations are produced flying from May to August.
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FOWL

The term fowl was once used as a synonym for bird, but since around 1900 the term fowl has come to refer to woodland birds of the genus Gallus. They resemble the pheasants, but the crown of the head is generally naked and furnished with a fleshy comb, the base of the lower mandibles also bears fleshy lobes (wattles). In the wild fowl live in forests and woods, scratching around the forest floor by day and flying up into the branches to perch and to sleep at night.
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FOX

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The fox (once popularly known as a Russel) is an animal of the genus Vulpes closely allied to the dog and found throughout the northern hemisphere. Foxes have a straight bushy tail, elongated pupils and erect ears. Foxes are intelligent (frequently described as sly), adaptable and omnivorous, consuming small animals, eggs, honey and refuse, feeding mainly at night.

The common fox (Vulpes canis) is a reddish-brown colour with white beneath.
Foxes often live in a burrow formerly occupied by a rabbit or badger, which they adapt for their own liking. Some varieties of fox, mainly the silver and black varieties, are prized for their fur.
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FOX MOTH

The Fox Moth (Macrothylacia rubi) is a moth of the family Lasiocampidae with a wing span of between 40 and 65 mm found throughout Europe and Asia in grassy biotopes flying from May to July.
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FOX-TERRIER

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The fox-terrier is two breeds of British dog; smooth and wire-haired, originating from around the start of the 19th century. They were originally developed for bolting foxes which had taken to earth during a fox-hunt. However, with the increased speed of foxhounds the fox-terries unable to keep up became domestic pets, though they are still a lively and energetic animal.
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FOXGLOVE

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea also known as fairy's glove and fairy-bells) is a common British flower of the family Scrophulariaceae. It grows on banks and pastures. The flowers are campanulate and resemble the fingers of a glove, hence the name. Foxglove possesses diuretic, narcotic and sedative qualities which are used in medicine. It is also deadly in sufficient quantity.
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FOXHOUND

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The Foxhound is a breed of dog bred for chasing foxes. The foxhound is smaller than the staghound, its average height being about 53 cm. Foxhounds were bred by crossing the old English bloodhound with the greyhound to blend speed with stamina and scent.
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FOXTAIL-GRASS

Foxtail-grass is a grass of the genus Alopecurus so called because of the close cylindrical panicle in which the spikelets of flowers are arranged which look rather like a fox's tail.
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FRANCOLIN

The francolin is a genus of birds belonging to the same family as the partridge which they resemble except for one or more strong and sharp horny spurs on the tarsi.
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FRANGULA

Frangula or alder buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula) is a native British deciduous shrub or small tree of the family Rhamnaceae about 1.5 meters tall with slender a stem, and entire, alternate obovate leaves very smooth and glossy. The flowers are small, greenish-white in colour, bisexual and grow in axillary clusters on young shoots, being followed by poisonous drupes that turn from green to red and finally violet-black in colour on ripening. The timber is sometimes known as black dogwood.
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FRASERA

Frasera is a genus of plants of the family Gentianaceae containing seven species of erect perennial herbs native to North America.
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FRATERCULA

Fratercula is a genus of web-footed birds which contains the puffin.
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FRAXINELLA

Fraxinella or burning bush (Dictamnus albus) is a species of dittany. It is an ornamental herbaceous annual plant with dark-green, odd-pinnate, lanceolate to ovate and finely serrated leaves cultivated for its fragrant leaves and rose-coloured flowers. It emits a vapour capable of being ignited.
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FRAXINUS

Fraxinus is a genus of deciduous trees of the family Oleaceae which includes the ash.
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FREDERIKSBORG

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The Frederiksborg is a Danish breed of riding horse first established in 1562 by King Frederick II of Denmark in order to produce a versatile horse for both royal and military purposes to be both ridden and driven. The Frederiksborg stands 16 hands high and is chestnut in colour, usually with a flaxen mane and tail.
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FREESIA

Freesia is a genus of Cape bulbous plants belonging to the family Iridaceae.
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FREGATE ISLAND BEETLE

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The Fregate Island Beetle (Polposipus herculeanus) is a beetle found only on Fregate Island in the Seychelles where it lives in cracks and crevices of trees and rotting logs. The larvae fed on decaying wood, the adult beetles feed on fruit, fungi and leaves. At the start of the 21st century the Fregate Island Beetle was almost extinct in the wild.
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FREIBERGER

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The Freiberger or Franches-Montagnes is a Swiss breed of heavy horse developed at the end of the 19th century from the Bernese Jura horse, the English Thoroughbred, the English Anglo-Norman, the Ardennais and the Arab Horse. The
Freiberger is a calm and easy going horse, 14 to 15 hands high, bay or chestnut coloured, with a small but heavy head with a pronounced jaw line and a broad forehead. They are popularly used as dray horses.
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FRENCH ANGLO-ARAB

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The French Anglo-Arab is a French breed of competition horse established in the middle of the 19th century. The French Anglo-Arab stands between 15.2 and 16.3 hands high and is chestnut, bay or grey in colour.
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FRENCH BEANS

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French Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) is a twining annual herb of the family Leguminosae with alternate leaves on footstalks composed of three oval pubescent folioles. The seeds are shaped rather like a kidney, and from this the plant gets an alternative name, the Kidney Bean, it is also known as the Haricot Bean.
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FRENCH BULLDOG

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The French Bulldog is a breed of dog originating from the British Bulldog developed in France with upright bat-like ears. A companion breed, the
French Bulldog is intelligent, quiet and requires little exercise.
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FRENCH OAK

The French Oak is a tree of the genus Catalpa. It contains a lot of tannin in its bark.
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FRENCH SADDLE PONY

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The French Saddle Pony is a relatively new French breed of pony of a good nature, standing 12 to 14 hands high and occurring in many colours. They are quiet enough to be ridden by children, but are lively enough to be versatile riding ponies.
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FRENCH TROTTER

The French Trotter (or Norman Trotter) is a French breed of horse bred for trotting races. The French Trotter stands 16.2 hands high and occurs in different colours, commonly bay or chestnut.
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FRENCH-ALPINE

The French-alpine is a large goat with medium sized erect ears kept for its milk. They originated in the Swiss Alps and are now found throughout Switzerland.
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FRESHWATER OYSTER

The freshwater oyster is a popular name for any species of shellfish of the genus Etheria, and allied genera. They are found in the rivers of Africa and South America. They are irregular in form, and attach themselves to rocks like oysters, but they have a pearly interior, and are allied to the freshwater mussels.
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FREYCINETIA

Freycinetia is a genus of evergreen tropical climbing plants belonging to the family Pandanaceae.
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FRIESIAN CATTLE

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The Friesian, Holstein or Holstein-Friesian (Bos taurus) is a breed of black and white coloured dairy cattle that originated in North Holland and Freisland. They produce a high yield of milk which has a low butterfat content.
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FRIESIAN HORSE

The Friesian is a Dutch breed of black-coloured, feathered light horse. The Friesian stands 15 hands high, has a docile and kind temperament and was formerly used for trotting.
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FRIGATE-BIRD

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The frigate-bird is a tropical, web-footed bird of the family Pelecanidae. The male bird reaches one meter in length, including the tail, but the body is comparatively small. The bill is longer than the head, hooked at the end and sharp. The wings are very large, and the bird has a wing span of over two meters.
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FRILLED LIZARD

The frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus Kenti) is a reptile of the lizard family Agamidae found in Australia. It grows to about 90 centimetres in length and receives its name from the presence of a large expansion of the skin at either side of the neck, the two halves meeting at the throat. This frill is notched at the edge. has special supporting cartilages, and by means of muscles can be folded or expanded at will. The lizard walks on its hind limbs, having the fore limbs hanging down.
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FRILLED SHARK

The Frilled Shark or eel shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) is a harmless shark found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, western Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It grows to about two meters long and has a distinctive eel-like appearance and snout and frilled gill margins. The Frilled Shark is dark brown in colour and has an elongated tail fin and a single small dorsal fin located well back. Although occasionally seen at the surface, the Frilled Shark generally lives at a depth of between 100 and 1300 meters. Quite what the frilled shatk eats is unknown, but is thought to be small deep-water fish and squid.
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FRINGILLIDAE

Fringillidae is a large family of Conirostral birds comprising the finches. They are remarkable for the shortness thickness and powerful structure of their beak, the upper and lower mandibles being for the most part equal thickness. The mandibles are almost as high as they are wide, so that when the beak is closed is looks like a short cone divided in the middle by the gape. They feed principally on seeds, nuts and the kernels of stone-fruits. The young are fed on insects.
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FRINGILLIDEA

Fringillidea is the Finch family of birds. They are a large family of small seed-eating birds found in all parts of the world. Fringillidea belong to the order Insessores, section Conirostres. They are distinguished by having a sharply-pointed, conical, and in most cases strongly-formed, bill suitable for crushing seeds and other hard objects.
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FRIT-FLY

The Frit-fly is a small fly of the genus Oscinis, that is destructive to wheat.
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FRITILLARIA

Fritillaria is a genus of liliaceous plants including Crown Imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) and the Snake's-Head or Common Fritillary (Fritillaria Meleagris) both of which are found in moist meadows in northern temperate regions, including the British Isles.
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FRITILLARY

Fritillary is the popular name for plants of the genus Fritillaria of the family Liliaceae, native to northern temperate regions.
Fritillary is the popular name for numerous butterflies, chiefly of the family Nymphalidae, which are usually characteristically brown with dark brown or black coloured spots.
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FRIZZLES

The Frizzles is a breed of bantam.
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FROG

The frog is an Anura with four legs, four toes on the fore feet and five on the hind. The feet are more-or-less webbed. The body is naked and has no ribs and no tail. The tongue is fleshy and attached in front to the jaw but is free behind so that it can be protruded.
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FROND

A frond is the compound leaf of a fern. The term is also applied to the leaf of a palm or a cycad and to the thallus of a seaweed or a lichen.
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FROSTED GREEN

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The Frosted Green (Polyploca ridens) is a moth of the family Thyatiridae with a wing pan of between 30 and 35 mm found in warmer parts of central Europe and in southern Europe flying from March.
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FROSTED ORANGE

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The Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago) is a moth of the family Noctuidae with a wing span of between 35 and 40 mm found in temperate Europe and Asia Minor flying from August to October.
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FROTH-FLY

The froth-fly is an insect of the family Cercopidae, the larvae of which is found in a frothy exudation on plants (Cuckoo-spit).
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FROUNDOUS

In botany, the term frondous refers to a plant which bears both leaves and flowers on the same stem.
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FRUIT

Fruit is a botanical term for the mature ovary of a plant comprised of two parts, the pericarp and the seed. In simple terms, a fruit is the product of a plant comprising its seed or seeds and the envelope around the seed or seeds.
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FRUIT-PIGEON

Fruit-pigeons are pigeons of the genus Carpophagus. They have brilliant plumage and are found in India and Australia. They are so named because they eat nothing but fruit.
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FRYBERRY

Fryberry was an old 16th century name for the Raspberry.
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FUCACEAE

Fucaceae is a family of dark-coloured algae consisting of olive-coloured inarticulate seaweeds distinguished from other algae by their reproductive organs which consist of archegonia and antheridia, contained in common chambers, united in club-shaped receptacles at the ends of the fronds.
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FUCHSIA

The fuchsia is a plant of the family Onagraceae. It has erect, much-branched stems, smooth, rather thick pointed leaves, and drooping heavy flowers borne singly in the axils of leaves towards the end of the branches. The flowers have coloured, fleshy calyx and tubular corolla, usually of different colours or shades of the same colour, and long deep-purple filaments bearing cross-set anthers.
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FUCUS

Fucus is a genus of seaweeds of the family Fucaceae comprising several common seaweeds with a flat or compressed forked frond, sometimes containing air vessels.
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FUJI

Fuji is a variety of apple produced by Japanese breeders who crossed the American Midwestern variety Red Delicious with the antique Virginia apple Ralls Janet. It's been sweeping America as well in the 1990s as a salad and dessert apple and for eating fresh. Its appeal is its low-acid sweetness combined with juicy firm-fleshed crispiness and warm aroma. It keeps longer than most other varieties at room temperature. The characteristic colour includes a pink stripe, but high-colouring
Fuji strains are now available that are closer to red all over.
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FULIGULINOE

Fulgulinoe is the Pochard sub-family of birds of the family Anatidae, order Natatores. They are distinguished from other members of the order by the presence of a lobated membrane on the hind toe and a compressed tarsi.
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FULMAR

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The Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) is a sea bird which lives on the sub-arctic shores of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans being found in Iceland, Great Britain, Brittany, the western coast of Norway, Greenland during the breeding season, the rest of its time being spent at sea. The Fulmar is predominantly whitish in colour with pale brown wings and tail above and is about 47 cm in length. The nest is built on rocky sea islands or coastal cliffs and one or sometimes two eggs are laid which are incubated by both parents taking turns for the fifty-two day incubation cycle The young leave the nest able to fly after about fifty days and reach maturity at seven years.
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FUMARIACEAE

Fumariaceae is a small family of exogenous plants closely allied to Papaveraceae. The species are slender-stemmed, herbaceous plants, generally erect, though some climb by means of their twisting leaf-stalks.
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FUNARIA

Funaria is a genus of mosses.
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FUNGI

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Fungi is a large family of cryptogamous life form, neither animal nor plant, but a separate classification. Fungi agree with algae and lichens in their cellular structure, which is, with few exceptions, devoid of anything resembling vascular tissue; but differing from them in deriving their nutrition from the body on which the grow, not from the medium by which they are surrounded. Fungi are distinct from plants in not containing any cellulose in their structure; all plants contain cellulose in their cells.
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FURCRAEA

Furcraea is a genus of tropical American succulent plants of the family Amaryllidaceae, and allied to Agave. They take many years to mature and after fruiting die.
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FURIOSO

The Furioso is a Hungarian breed of light horse used for riding. The Furioso stands about 16 hands high and is bay, chestnut or black in colour.
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FUSUS

Fusus is a genus of gastropod molluscs nearly allied to the Murex with a spindle-shaped univalve shell.
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