Church of
Hagia Sophia
into a mosque
(Islamic house
of worship).
Now the
building is a
museum.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Byzantine Empire 159
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The cabbages include such
familiar vegetables as cauliflower,
broccoli, and brussels
sprouts.
(See Cabbage.)
Cockroaches have lived on
Earth for more than 320 million
years.
(See Cockroach.)
Red, blue, and green are the
primary colors of light. The primary
colors of pigments are
magenta, yellow, and cyan.
(See Color.)
A meteor shower happens
when Earth passes through the
orbit of some comets.
(See Comet.)
Cork is made from the bark of
a kind of oak tree.
(See Cork.)
Cc
Cabbage
The group of plants called cabbages
includes a number of familiar vegetables.
Among them are head cabbage, broccoli,
cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, and
collard. All kinds of cabbage developed
from the same plant, called wild cabbage.
They are grown in mild climates
throughout the world.
Cabbage plants have leaves with a waxy
coating. This coating usually gives the
leaf a gray-green or blue-green color.
The flowers have two petals and two
petal-like parts called sepals. The petals
and sepals are arranged in opposite pairs
in the form of a cross. The flowers grow
in loose clusters at the top of the stem.
Cabbages can be grouped according to
the parts that are used for food. In some
forms the leaves are eaten. These include
kale, kohlrabi, head cabbage, and brussels
sprouts. Kale and kohlrabi have
loose leaves that spread outward from a
stem. In the case of kohlrabi the stem is
also eaten. Head cabbage has tightly
folded leaves that form a single large
head around a stem. Brussels sprouts are
like head cabbages but are much smaller.
Many brussels sprouts grow along a
stem. Other cabbages, such as cauliflower
and broccoli, have thickened
flowers that are eaten.
#More to explore
Flower • Plant
Cabot, John
After the news of Christopher Columbus’
famous trip to the Americas reached
England, King Henry VII sent John
4 Cabbage BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Cabot to seek new lands for the English.
Cabot reached North America in 1497.
His landing led England to claim what
is now Canada.
Like Columbus, John Cabot was born in
Genoa, in what is now Italy, in about
1450. His original name was Giovanni
Caboto. By 1461 Cabot had moved to
Venice, Italy. During the 1470s Cabot
sailed to the eastern part of the Mediterranean
Sea as a trader. He visited Mecca,
a great trading center in Arabia.
By 1495 Cabot was living in Bristol,
England. He believed that he could find
a short route to Asia. His plan was to sail
north and west across the Atlantic
Ocean. In 1496 King Henry VII agreed
to the trip. Bad weather, food shortages,
and conflicts with his crew forced Cabot
to turn back.
The next year Cabot sailed again with a
crew of 18 men on the small ship Matthew.
On June 24, 1497, the men
reached North America. They explored
the coast of what is now Canada, in
either Newfoundland and Labrador or
Nova Scotia. The ship may also have
reached what is now the U.S. state of
Maine. In August 1497 Cabot returned
to Bristol.
The next year the king sent Cabot on
another trip. Cabot thought that he
could reach Japan by sailing south along
the coast he had found. Cabot left
England with five ships. One ship
stopped in Ireland. The other four ships
never returned. Cabot may have reached
North America again, or he may have
died at sea.
#More to explore
Columbus, Christopher
Cactus
Cactuses, or cacti, are desert plants.
They grow in dry places where other
plants have trouble living. Their ability
to store water keeps them alive. Cacti are
A picture shows John Cabot claiming what
is now Canada in the name of King Henry
VII in 1497.
There are several different varieties of barrel
cactus. In general they have strong, stiff
spines and prominent ribs.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Cactus 5
also protected by sharp spines, or
needles. These discourage animals from
eating them.
Where Cacti Grow
There are about 1,650 species, or types,
of cactus. These plants grow mainly in
the dry areas of the United States,
Mexico, Central America, and South
America. Mexico has the greatest number
and variety of cacti.
Physical Features and Growth
Cacti are succulent plants. This means
that they have thick tissues that take up
and hold large amounts of water. The
