Nora Ephron: …Alice Arlen, the screenplay for Silkwood (1983), based on the true story of Karen Silkwood (portrayed in the movie by Meryl Streep), a union activist who died while investigating safety violations at a nuclear fuel production plant. Silkwood won Ephron her first Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay. She…

Karen Silkwood was an American laboratory technician and activist who attempted to expose the safety violations and negligence at Kerr-McGee’s Cimarron River nuclear facility. The circumstances of her death brought attention to bear on the dangers and wide-ranging and previously little-known

silkworm moth, (Bombyx mori), lepidopteran whose caterpillar has been used in silk production (sericulture) for thousands of years. Although native to China, the silkworm has been introduced throughout the world and has undergone complete domestication, with the species no longer being found in the

anteater: The silky anteater: Also known as the two-toed, pygmy, or dwarf anteater, the silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is the smallest and least-known member of the family. The silky anteater is found from southern Mexico southward to Bolivia and Brazil. It is not rare but is difficult…

stewartia: Silky camellia, or Virginia stewartia (S. malacodendron), a shrub up to 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) high, has white flowers with purple stamens. Another American species is the mountain stewartia, sometimes called mountain camellia (S. ovata), which is also shrubby; it is mostly confined to the…

silky flycatcher, (family Ptilogonatidae), any of four arboreal bird species found in dry, brushy regions from Nevada south to Panama that have silky feathers, prominent crests, and broad bills. They are about 19 cm (7.5 inches) long. Their basic diet consists of mistletoe berries, supplemented

neuropteran: Annotated classification: Family Psychopsidae (silky lacewings) Adults large mothlike species; antennae short, wings broad. Larvae elongated, flat; head broad posteriorly, closely attached to prothorax; jaws incurved, large, sicklelike; often arboreal, under bark. Family Osmylidae (osmylidflies) Adults medium to large; head wider than long; antennae filiform, short; 3

mineral: Lustre: …milky quartz may exhibit this); silky, descriptive of the lustre of a skein of silk or a piece of satin and characteristic of some minerals in fibrous aggregates (examples are fibrous gypsum [CaSO4 ∙ 2H2O], known as satin spar, and chrysotile asbestos [Mg3Si2O5(OH)4]); and adamantine, having the

silky oak, (Grevillea robusta), large tree native to Australia and also grown as a street tree in warm areas and, in its juvenile stage, as an indoor pot plant. It belongs to the family Proteaceae (see Proteales). In Australia it is cut for timber, but elsewhere it is valued for its graceful,

willow: … fastigiata) is a variety especially common at Xochimilco near Mexico City.

pocket mouse: Natural history: The nine species of silky pocket mice (genus Perognathus) are very small, weighing from 5 to 30 grams (0.2 to 1.1 ounces) and having a body length of 6 to 9 cm (2.4 to 3.5 inches) and hairy tails 5 to 10 cm long. Silky pocket mice have soft…

silky terrier, Australian breed of toy dog, first shown in 1907. It originated in Sydney and was once known as the Sydney silky. A rather low-set dog, the silky terrier stands 9 to 10 inches (23 to 25.5 cm) and weighs 8 to 10 pounds (3.5 to 4.5 kg). Its silky, fine coat is glossy blue-gray and tan,

sill, flat intrusion of igneous rock that forms between preexisting layers of rock. Sills occur in parallel to the bedding of the other rocks that enclose them, and, though they may have vertical to horizontal orientations, nearly horizontal sills are the most common. Sills may measure a fraction

Anna Peck Sill was an American educator who opened and administered a girls’ school that would become Rockford College. Sill began teaching school at the age of 20, and in 1843 she opened a seminary in Warsaw, New York. From 1846 to 1849 she headed the female department of the Cary Collegiate

Silla, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea and the one that in 668 unified Korea under the Unified Silla dynasty (668–935). Silla is traditionally believed to have been founded by Hyŏkkŏse in 57 bce. By the 2nd century ce, a distinct confederation of local tribes was definitely in existence

Monterrey: …against the scenic backdrop of Mount Silla, which rises above the plain to an elevation of more than 5,500 feet (1,700 metres). Pop. (2010) 1,135,512; metro. area, 4,089,962; (2020) 1,142,952; metro. area, 5,341,177.

perciform: Annotated classification: Family Sillaginidae (whitings) Oligocene to present. Elongated fishes with long, conical snout, small mouth; moderately long dorsal and anal fins; anal fin with 2 weak spines. About 31 species of small marine fishes of shallow water; Indo-Pacific, often in estuaries and river mouths; dig in bottom…

Frans Eemil Sillanpää was the first Finnish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1939). The son of a peasant farmer, Sillanpää began studying natural science but in 1913 returned to the country, married, and began to write. His first short stories were published in journals in 1915. From

African literature: Ethiopian: Heruy Walda Sellasse, an Ethiopian foreign minister who became the country’s first major writer, wrote two novels that are critical of child marriage and that extol Christianity and Western technology. But he was also critical of the Christian church and proposed in one of his…

Žilina, town, north-central Slovakia. It lies along the Váh River at its confluence with the Kysuca and Rajčianka rivers. Originally an early 13th-century Slavic trading settlement, Žilina became a free royal town in 1312. It has an arcaded marketplace and medieval buildings, including the

Larsa: …12th king of the dynasty, Silli-Adad (c. 1835), reigned for only a year and was then deposed by a powerful Elamite, Kutur-Mabuk, who installed his son Warad-Sin (1834–23) as king. This act apparently caused little disruption in the economic life of Larsa, and this was in fact a most prosperous…

Dumaguete: Silliman University, an American Presbyterian missionary school with a well-known liberal arts college, was founded there in 1901. Its presence has resulted in a considerable degree of Americanization. This university and the Foundation College (1949) attract students from various sectors of the archipelago, particularly the…

Benjamin Silliman: …and chemist who founded the American Journal of Science and wielded a powerful influence in the development of science in the United States.

Benjamin Silliman was a geologist and chemist who founded the American Journal of Science and wielded a powerful influence in the development of science in the United States. Silliman was appointed professor of chemistry and natural history at Yale, from which he had graduated in 1796. He was

Benjamin Silliman was an American chemist whose report on the potential uses of crude-oil products gave impetus to plans for drilling the first producing oil well, near Titusville, Pa. The son of the noted geologist and chemist Benjamin Silliman (1779–1864), he assisted his father in setting up a

sillimanite, brown, pale green, or white glassy silicate mineral that often occurs in long, slender, needlelike crystals frequently found in fibrous aggregates. An aluminum silicate, Al2OSiO4, it occurs in high-temperature regionally metamorphosed clay-rich rocks (e.g., schists and gneisses).

Alan Sillitoe was a writer, one of the so-called Angry Young Men, whose brash and angry accounts of working-class life injected new vigour into post-World War II British fiction. The son of a tannery worker, Sillitoe worked in factories from the age of 14. In 1946 he joined the air force, and for

calligraphy: The scripts of humanism (14th to 16th century): …men compiled their researches into sillogi (anthologies of texts from Roman inscriptions) that provided models for square capital letters.

Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano who won international fame many years before her Metropolitan Opera debut at age 46. After retirement from her singing career, she became a notable arts advocate and fundraiser. Sills was early destined by her mother for a career in the performing

David L. Sills was an American sociologist known for his studies of organizational goals in voluntary associations. Sills received a Ph.D. from Columbia University (1956). He served as a research analyst in the public opinion and sociological research division during the Allied occupation of Japan

David L. Sills was an American sociologist known for his studies of organizational goals in voluntary associations. Sills received a Ph.D. from Columbia University (1956). He served as a research analyst in the public opinion and sociological research division during the Allied occupation of Japan

mechanics of solids: The substance called Silly Putty (trademark), a polymerized silicone gel familiar to many children, is another example. If a ball of it is left to sit on a table at room temperature, it flows and flattens on a time scale of a few minutes to an hour. But…

Walt Disney: First animated cartoons: …started a new series called Silly Symphonies with a picture entitled The Skeleton Dance, in which a skeleton rises from the graveyard and does a grotesque, clattering dance set to music based on classical themes. Original and briskly syncopated, the film ensured popular acclaim for the series, but, with costs…

Naftali Bennett: Prime ministership: The coalition’s chairwoman, Idit Silman, joined the opposition after the left-wing health minister upheld a court ruling that permitted the entrance of leavened foodstuffs (chametz) into hospitals during Passover, a Jewish holiday in which leaven is prohibited. Her statement cited frustration with the unity government and her desire…

J.R.R. Tolkien: …this “legendarium,” which eventually became The Silmarillion, partly to provide a setting in which “Elvish” languages he had invented could exist. But his tales of Arda and Middle-earth also grew from a desire to tell stories, influenced by a love of myths and legends. To entertain his four children, he…

silo, in agriculture, airtight structure that encloses and protects silage (q.v.; partially fermented fodder, called haylage if made from grass), keeping it in the succulent and slightly sour condition edible for farm animals. A common type silo is an upright cylindrical tower 10 to 18 feet (3 to 5

fortification: Nuclear fortification: …these works was the missile silo, a tubular structure of heavily reinforced concrete sunk into the ground to serve as a protective installation and launch facility for a single intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). These silos were “hardened” to resist a calculated amount of blast and shock from a nuclear detonation.…

Rebecca Ferguson: Dune and later credits: …in the Apple TV+ series Silo (2023– ). The sci-fi drama was based on Hugh Howey’s dystopian books about people who live in an underground bunker and know little about the outside world.

Diego de Siloé was a sculptor and architect whose achievements are recognized as among the finest of the Spanish Renaissance. His sculpture is considered the high point of the Burgos Plateresque; his Granada Cathedral is considered the finest of all Plateresque buildings and one of the most

Gil de Siloé was recognized as the greatest Spanish sculptor of the 15th century. His origins are still a matter of dispute. The many names by which Gil is known are evidence of the confusion surrounding his origin. Urliones, or Urlienes, probably refers to Orléans, and Emberres, or Amberes,

Gil de Siloé was recognized as the greatest Spanish sculptor of the 15th century. His origins are still a matter of dispute. The many names by which Gil is known are evidence of the confusion surrounding his origin. Urliones, or Urlienes, probably refers to Orléans, and Emberres, or Amberes,

Ignazio Silone was an Italian novelist, short-story writer, and political leader, world famous during World War II for his powerful anti-Fascist novels. Born into a rural family, Silone was educated in the town of his birth until he was 15, when an earthquake killed his mother and left the family

silicone, any of a diverse class of fluids, resins, or elastomers based on polymerized siloxanes, substances whose molecules consist of chains made of alternating silicon and oxygen atoms. Their chemical inertness, resistance to water and oxidation, and stability at both high and low temperatures

North Indian temple architecture: …of temple mentioned in the Shilpa-shastras (traditional canons of architecture), but exact correlation of the Shilpa-shastra terms with extant architecture has not yet been established.

Thailand: Cultural institutions: …of branches throughout the country), Silpakorn University, and the National Theatre. Silpakorn University, located in Bangkok, provides training in all of the Thai fine arts, including drama and music. Its faculty members also design buildings for the government and for religious institutions in styles that preserve traditional Thai architectural forms.…

carrion beetle, (family Silphidae), any of a group of beetles (insect order Coleoptera), most of which feed on the bodies of dead and decaying animals, thus playing a major role as decomposers. A few live in beehives as scavengers, and some eyeless ones live in caves and feed on bat droppings.

cooking: Ancient Rome: …a wild giant fennel (silphium), which the Romans loved so much that they ate the plant to extinction. Laser not only was a versatile culinary ingredient but was used for medicinal purposes as well (primarily as a digestive aid); it may have also been perceived as a contraceptive. As…

Silphium, genus of tall perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, consisting of about 23 yellow-flowered species commonly called rosinweed, native to North America. Many species have rough leaves that may be opposite each other, alternate along the stem, or be grouped in whorls. The base of each

Silphium: Compass plant, or pilotweed (S. laciniatum), is a prairie plant with large, deeply cut, lance-shaped leaves. It may grow to 3.5 metres (about 12 feet) and has a tall flower stalk with solitary large flowers.

Silphium: The base of each oval cup-plant (Silphium perfoliatum) leaf surrounds the square stem and may hold water. Compass plant, or pilotweed (S. laciniatum), is a prairie plant with large, deeply cut, lance-shaped leaves. It may grow to 3.5 metres (about 12 feet) and has a tall flower stalk with solitary…

Frank Lloyd Wright: The early Chicago years: …where he found employment with J.L. Silsbee, doing architectural detailing. Silsbee, a magnificent sketcher, inspired Wright to achieve a mastery of ductile line and telling accent. In time Wright found more rewarding work in the important architectural firm of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. Wright soon became chief assistant to…

silt, sediment particles ranging from 0.004 to 0.06 mm (0.00016 to 0.0024 inch) in diameter irrespective of mineral type. Silt is easily transported by moving currents but settles in still water. It constitutes about 60 percent of the material in the Mississippi River delta. An unconsolidated

siltstone, hardened sedimentary rock that is composed primarily of angular silt-sized particles (0.0039 to 0.063 mm [0.00015 to 0.0025 inch] in diameter) and is not laminated or easily split into thin layers. Siltstones, which are hard and durable, occur in thin layers rarely thick enough to be

Buddhism: Yogachara/Vijnanavada (Faxiang/Hossō): … provided the foundation for the Silun school. Silun was succeeded as the major vehicle of Yogachara thought in China by the Faxiang school, which was founded by Xuanzang, the 7th-century Chinese pilgrim-translator, and his main disciple, Kuiji. Xuanzang went to India, where he studied the works of Dharmapala (died 561)…

Silures, a powerful people of ancient Britain, occupying much of southeastern Wales. Incited by the king of the Trinovantes tribe, Caratacus, they fiercely resisted the Roman conquest from about ad 48. A Roman legionary fortress was established first at Glevum (Gloucester) and later at Isca

Sir Roderick Impey Murchison: …successive editions of his work Siluria (1854; 5th ed. 1872), which presented the main features of the original Silurian System together with information on new findings. In addition, he fought unsuccessfully against the splitting of his original Silurian System into three parts: the Cambrian Period (about 542 million to 488…

Silurian Period, in geologic time, the third period of the Paleozoic Era. It began 443.8 million years ago and ended 419.2 million years ago, extending from the close of the Ordovician Period to the beginning of the Devonian Period. During the Silurian, continental elevations were generally much

Down: The basic geology is Silurian, with much slate and sandstone. The climate is temperate, rainfall varying from 65 inches (1,650 mm) a year in the Mournes to less than 35 inches in the east and north. Although soils of the southern slopes in the north are very fertile, a…

Sir Roderick Impey Murchison: …embodied in the monumental work The Silurian System (1839). Following the establishment of the Silurian System, Murchison and Sedgwick founded the Devonian System, based on their research of the geology of southwestern England and the Rhineland. Murchison then went on an expedition to Russia and wrote, with others, The Geology…

ostariophysan: Annotated classification: Family Siluridae (wels and glass catfishes) Body compressed; adipose fin lacking, anal fin very long; short dorsal fin (often lacking) without spine. Food; aquarium fishes. Size to 4 metres (about 13 feet), 300 kg (660 pounds). Asia, Europe, Africa. At least 11 genera, 97 species. Family…

catfish, any of the fishes of the order Siluriformes. Catfishes are related to the characins, carp, and minnows (order Cypriniformes) and may be placed with them in the superorder Ostariophysi. Some authorities, however, have regarded these groups as suborders, rather than a single order, and have

wels, large, voracious catfish of the family Siluridae, native to large rivers and lakes from central Europe to western Asia. One of the largest catfishes, as well as one of the largest of European freshwater fishes, the wels attains a length of about 4.5 m (15 feet) and a weight of 300 kg (660

Andrés Bello: The second of the two, Silva a la agricultura de la zona tórrida, is a poetic description of the products of tropical America, extolling the virtues of country life in a manner reminiscent of Virgil. It is one of the best known poems in 19th-century Spanish-American letters. In 1829 he…

Christ the Redeemer: …designer, and the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa was chosen on the basis of his sketches of a figure of Christ holding a cross in his right hand and the world in his left. In collaboration with Brazilian artist Carlos Oswald, Silva Costa later amended the plan; Oswald has…

Bernardo Guimarães was a poet, dramatist, and regional novelist whose works marked a major transition toward greater realism in Brazilian literature and who was popular in his time as a minor Romantic novelist. After a youthful bohemian life in São Paulo, Guimarães retired to his native Minas

Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves: Through his foreign minister, José Maria da Silva Paranhos, border disputes were settled peacefully with Bolivia, Uruguay, British Guiana, and Suriname (Dutch Guiana). In 1918 Rodrigues Alves was reelected president of Brazil but died before he could take office.

Kuito, town (founded 1890), central Angola. It is the chief trade and market centre of the fertile Bié Plateau and processes rice and other grains, coffee, meat, and beeswax. The town suffered much damage in the civil war following Angola’s independence in 1975 and was almost totally destroyed in

Kuito: The Portuguese explorer António Francisco Ferreira da Silva Porto, for whom the original settlement was named, had homesteaded and built a stockade nearby and in 1890 died there. The town is served by an airport. Pop. (2014) 355,423.

Diego Velázquez was the most important Spanish painter of the 17th century, a giant of Western art. Velázquez is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest artists. The naturalistic style in which he was trained provided a language for the expression of his remarkable power of

Joaquim José da Silva Xavier was a Brazilian patriot and revolutionary who organized and led the first major outbreak against Portuguese rule in Brazil. Unsuccessful, he was tried and executed. The nobleness of Silva Xavier’s defense has made him a Brazilian national hero, and he is viewed as one

Adhemar Ferreira da Silva was a Brazilian athlete, winner of two Olympic gold medals and five world records in the triple jump. He was the first Brazilian to hold a world record in any event and was among the greatest South American athletes in history. Though his speed and long-jumping ability

Adhemar Ferreira da Silva was a Brazilian athlete, winner of two Olympic gold medals and five world records in the triple jump. He was the first Brazilian to hold a world record in any event and was among the greatest South American athletes in history. Though his speed and long-jumping ability

Antônio José da Silva was a Portuguese writer whose comedies, farces, and operettas briefly revitalized the Portuguese theatre in a period of dramatic decadence. Silva was born in Brazil, the son of Jews. Though his parents professed Christianity, his mother was accused by the Inquisition of

Goiás: …River by the explorer Bartolomeu Bueno da Silva in 1682. The settlement he founded there, called Santa Anna, became the colonial town of Goiás, the former state capital. In 1744 the large inland area, much of it still unexplored by Europeans, was made a captaincy general, and in 1822 it…

José Asunción Silva was a Colombian poet whose metrical experimentation and romantic reminiscences introduced a melancholy lyricism new to Spanish-American poetry. His highly personal poetry was widely imitated and greatly influenced Modernist poetry in Spanish America. Silva’s life was a tormented

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is a Brazilian politician who served as president of Brazil (2003–11; 2023– ). Born in Pernambuco state to sharecropping parents, Luiz Inácio da Silva (“Lula” was a nickname that he later added to his legal name) worked as a shoe-shine boy, street vendor, and factory

Maria Elena Vieira da Silva was a Portuguese-born French painter of intricate, semiabstract compositions. Vieira da Silva moved to Paris in 1928, where she studied sculpture first with Antoine Bourdelle and later with Charles Despiau. She studied painting with Fernand Léger and engraving with

Brazil: The Petrobras scandal, impeachment of Rousseff, and Temer interregnum: …Brazilian Socialist Party, green activist Marina Silva, in the first round of voting in the presidential election in early October.

Statius: …poems, collected under the title Silvae (“Forests”), apart from their literary merit, are valuable for their description of the life style of a wealthy and fashionable class—the liberti—during the reign of the emperor Domitian.

flat grain beetle, any member of the insect family Silvanidae (order Coleoptera), closely related to and sometimes included in the flat bark beetle (q.v.) family Cucujidae. These beetles are usually less than 3 millimetres (0.1 inch) in length. Many species live under the bark of trees. Others

Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus: Postumus and another general, Silvanus, stayed behind in Colonia (Cologne) with Gallienus’ son Saloninus after the emperor had left the Rhine River for the Danube about 258. When Silvanus demanded that all booty be handed back to the treasury and its original owners, the reluctant troops proclaimed Postumus emperor,…

Silvanus, in Roman religion, the god of the countryside, similar in character to Faunus, the god of animals, with whom he is often identified; he is usually depicted in the guise of a countryman. Initially the spirit of the unreclaimed woodland fringing the settlement, he had some of the menace of

St. Silas ; Western feast day July 13, Eastern feast day July 30) was an early Christian prophet and missionary, companion of St. Paul the Apostle. It is generally believed that the Silas in Acts and the Silvanus in 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and 1 Peter are the same. Acts 15:22 first

Switzerland: Rural communities: Gotthard Pass (Uri canton), Silvaplana, where the Julier Pass meets the Inn valley (the upper Engadin), and Gordola, at the junction of the Verzasca valley (Val Verzasca) and the Ticino River plain (near Locarno). In the Mittelland, with its abundant lakes, villages sited on deltas are especially closely related…

Andrés Bello: …literature is secured by his Silvas americanas, two poems, written during his residence in England, which convey the majestic impression of the South American landscape. These were published in London (1826–27) and were originally projected as part of a long, never-finished epic poem, América. The second of the two, Silva…

Silvassa, town, administrative headquarters of Dadra and Nagar Haveli district, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu union territory, western India. The town is located about 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Daman on the Daman Ganga River, some 15 miles (25 km) inland from the Arabian Sea. It is

Silvassa, town, administrative headquarters of Dadra and Nagar Haveli district, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu union territory, western India. The town is located about 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Daman on the Daman Ganga River, some 15 miles (25 km) inland from the Arabian Sea. It is

Spain: Opposition movements, 1898–1923: …politicians themselves, the conservative leaders Francisco Silvela and Antonio Maura and the democratic liberal José Canalejas sought to regenerate the system by widening the degree of political participation through “sincere” elections. Opposed by the professional party members, Maura only succeeded in confusing the party structure by splitting the Conservative Party.…

silver (Ag), chemical element, a white lustrous metal valued for its decorative beauty and electrical conductivity. Silver is located in Group 11 (Ib) and Period 5 of the periodic table, between copper (Period 4) and gold (Period 6), and its physical and chemical properties are intermediate between

Silver Age, in Latin literature, the period from approximately ad 18 to 133, which was a time of marked literary achievement second only to the previous Golden Age (70 bc–ad 18). By the 1st century ad political patronage of the arts begun in the Augustan Age (43 bc–ad 18) and a stifling reverence

Scholasticism: Enduring features: The so-called Silver Age of Scholastic thought, which occurred in the 16th century, is represented by two Spaniards: Francisco de Vitoria, of the first half of the century, and Francisco Suárez, of the second half, were both deeply engaged in what is now called the “Counter-Reformation.” Although…

Doctor Strange: Origin and development in the Silver Age: Magicians had long been a staple of comics. Lee Falk’s Mandrake the Magician comic strip debuted in 1934, and Fred Guardineer’s Zatara followed in Action Comics no. 1 in June 1938. Doctor Strange broke with the stage conjurer imagery of these prior comic…

chemical industry: Nitric acid: …compositions as lead azide [Pb(N3)2], silver azide (AgN3), and mercury fulminate [Hg(ONC)2]. These are not nitrates or nitro compounds, although some other detonators are, but they all contain nitrogen, and nitric acid is involved in their manufacture.

ball cactus: …cultivated as potted plants, including silver ball cactus (Parodia scopa) and golden ball cactus (P. leninghausii), which are especially valued for their woolly appearance.

Berlin International Film Festival: …film and short film and Silver Bear (Silberner Bär) awards for best director, actor, and actress. In 1978 the festival was moved from June to February. By the early 21st century, it was attended by about 300,000 film professionals and cinephiles. In addition to screening movies, the festival features various…

bluestem: Silver beardgrass, or silver bluestem (Bothriochloa saccharoides, formerly A. saccharoides), reaches 0.6 to 1.3 metres (about 2 to 4 feet) in height and has silvery white flower clusters 7–15 cm (about 3–6 inches) long; it is a forage grass in the southwestern United States.

the Beatles, British musical quartet and a global cynosure for the hopes and dreams of a generation that came of age in the 1960s. The principal members were John Lennon (b. October 9, 1940, Liverpool, Merseyside, England—d. December 8, 1980, New York, New York, U.S.), Paul McCartney (in full Sir

southern beech: …silver, or southland, beech (N. menziesii), a 30-metre New Zealand tree with doubly and bluntly toothed leaves bearing small hairy pits beneath.

southern beech, (genus Nothofagus), genus of 35–40 species of trees and shrubs in the family Nothofagaceae, native to cooler regions of the Southern Hemisphere. Several species are grown as ornamentals or for their useful wood. The southern beeches were formerly placed in the beech and oak family

silver bells, (Halesia carolina), deciduous plant, of the storax family (Styracaceae), native to southeastern and southern United States and cultivated as an ornamental. The tree grows from 12 to 24 metres (40 to 80 feet) tall and has alternate, stalked, toothed, bright-green leaves 5–10 cm (2–4