The Laing Family is a British family. The family is famous through their association with John Laing plc, a construction company founded in 1848. The company grew under the leadership of Sir John Laing and passed through the hands of his sons Sir Kirby Laing and Sir Maurice Laing. The Laing family is known for its contributions to charity and donated £8.88 million in 2002. The family also lends its name to nine separate foundations. The family's net worth in 2002 was £165 million and their charitable foundations totalled £200 million in assets. The Laing family sold John Laing plc to Henderson Private Equity in December 2006.
Laing may refer to:
Laing is a German band currently consisting of Nicola Rost, Larissa Pesch, Johanna Marshall, and Marisa Akeny.
Laing was founded in 2007 by lead vocalist, songwriter, and producer Nicola Rost, vocalists Johanna Marshall and Susanna Berivan, and dancer Marisa Akeny. The group's name comes from the surname of Rost's adoptive mother. Their breakthrough came in 2012 when they represented Saxony in the 2012 Bundesvision Song Contest with the song "Morgens immer müde". They placed second and the song went on to reach the Top 10 and Top 50 in the German and Austrian charts, respectively. They competed in Unser song für Österreich with the songs "Zeig deine Muskeln" and "Wechselt die Beleuchtung". The group qualified to the Top 4, but did not make it to the Top 2 and were eliminated.
The founding members of Laing consist of lead vocalist Nicola Rost, vocalists Johanna Marshall and Susanna Berivan, and dancer Marisa Akeny. In 2012, Berivan left the group in favour of a solo career and was replaced by Atina Tabé. Tabé later left the group as well in 2014 and was replaced by Larissa Pesch.
Taro (/ˈtɑːroʊ, ˈtæ-/, US /ˈtæroʊ/) is a common name for several plants in the Araceae family which are used as vegetables for their corms (thickened underground stems), leaves, and leaf-stems (petioles).
Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and the way it is used is discussed here. More specifically, this article describes the "dasheen" form of taro; another variety of taro is known as eddoe.
Colocasia esculenta is thought to be native to Southern India and Southeast Asia, but is widely naturalised. It is a perennial, tropical plant primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible starchy corm, and as a leaf vegetable. It is a food staple in African, Oceanic and South Indian cultures and is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants.Colocasia is thought to have originated in the Indomalaya ecozone, perhaps in East India, Nepal and Bangladesh, and spread by cultivation eastward into Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Islands; westward to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean Basin; and then southward and westward from there into East Africa and West Africa, whence to the Caribbean and Americas. It is known by many local names and often referred to as "elephant ears" when grown as an ornamental plant.