Heroin is derived from the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, which means the poppy that brings sleep.
Sterling silver is not pure silver. Because pure silver is too soft to be used in most tableware it is mixed with copper in the proportion of 92.5 percent silver to 7.5 percent copper.
On average, half of all false teeth have some form of radioactivity.
Sound travels 15 times faster through steel than through the air.
The fragrance of flowers is due to the essences of oil which they produce.
The telegraph plant of Asia has leaves that flutter constantly, even when there is no breeze.
Of the 15,000-odd known species of orchids in the world, 3,000 of them can be found in Brazil.
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