Plant Printouts

EnchantedLearning.com Botany and Paleobotany Dictionary

Plants

NANOFOSSIL Nanofossils are microscopic fossils that are very abundant, widely distributed, and time-specific (because of their high evolutionary rates). They are very useful index fossils.	NATURAL SELECTION Natural selection is the process in which some organisms live and reproduce and others die before reproducing. Some life forms survive and reproduce because they are better suited to environmental pressures, ensuring that their genes are perpetuated in the gene pool.	NATURALIST A naturalist is a person who studies plants and animals.
NECTAR Nectar is the sweet liquid produced by many flowers. Nectar attracts many insects (like butterflies and bees) who go from flower to flower sipping nectar, causing the pollination of the flowers.	NEEDLE A needle is a long, thin, pointed, needle-shaped leaf, like that of the pine. The word acicular is sometimes used to describe needles.	NEOCOMIAN EPOCH The Neocomian epoch was the early (lower) part of the Cretaceous period, about 144 to 127 million years ago.
NEOGENE The Neogene (24 million to 1.8 million years ago) was the later part of the Tertiary Period. It is divided into the Miocene Epoch (24 million to 5 million years ago, when many mammals appeared, including the horses, dogs, bears, South American monkeys, apes in southern Europe, and Ramapithecus; also, modern birds appear) and the Pliocene Epoch (5 million to 1.8 million years ago, when the first hominids (australopithecines) developed, modern forms of whales appeared, and Megalodon swam the seas).	NEOTROPICAL The neotropical region extends from the southern tip of South America up to Mexico. This vast region includes many different habitats, including tropical rainforests.	NICHE A niche is a place or position that an organism occupies in an environment.
NITROGEN FIXING Some bacteria (rhizobia) are nitrogen-fixing; they transform nitrogen gas in the atmopshere into a form that can be used by plants.	NODE A node is a part of the stem of a plant from which a leaf, branch, or aerial root grows.	NODULE A nodule is a small, rounded knot on some leguminous plant roots which contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia). For example, peanut plant roots have nodules.
NOXIOUS WEED A noxious weed is a plant that is considered by local authorities to be a problem, growing where it is not wanted.	NUCLEAR ENVELOPE (also called the nuclear membrane) The nuclear envelope is double membrane that surrounds the nucleus.	NUCLEUS The nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle in each plant cell which contains the genetic material of the cell (DNA in chromosomes). It is where DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) replicates itself, and where RNA (ribonucleic acid) is made. The plural of nucleus is nuclei.
NUCLEOLUS The nucleolus is a spherical or ovoid organelle in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell. It consists of granules of DNA and RNA, and synthesizes ribosomal RNA. The plural of nucleolus is nucleoli.	NURSE LOG A nurse log is a fallen tree trunk that nourishes new life on the forest floor as it decomposes. It provides a rich, moist habitat for ferns, lichens, mosses, and tree seedlings.	NUTRIENT A nutrient is a chemical that an organism need to ingest in order to survive (like fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, etc.).
NUCLEAR MEMBRANE (also called the nuclear envelope) The nuclear membrane is double membrane that surrounds the nucleus of the cell.

Plant Printouts

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Plants

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