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Nasi lemak
Nasi lemak, Malay for "fatty rice," is a coconut-milk rice dish with pandan, sambal, anchovies, peanuts, egg, and cucumber; a Malay-origin breakfast staple of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Brunei.
Nauclea
Nauclea is a genus of Rubiaceae trees native to tropical Africa, Asia, and northern Australia, used in traditional medicine against malaria and pain and for timber; key species include N. latifolia, N. officinalis, and threatened N. diderrichii.
Neera
Neera (padhaneer, Kalparasa) is the fresh, unfermented sap tapped from coconut, palmyra, or date palm inflorescences, drunk as a sweet non-alcoholic beverage; it ferments within hours into toddy (5–8% alcohol) unless preserved with anti-fermentation agents, pasteurization, or freezing.
Nelumbo
Nelumbo is the sole genus of Nelumbonaceae (Proteales), the true lotuses, with two species, Asian N. nucifera and American N. lutea; distinct from Nymphaea water lilies in leaves, fruit, and alkaloids, with seeds viable for over a millennium.
Nelumbo nucifera
Nelumbo nucifera, the sacred lotus (荷花, ハス, padma), is an aquatic perennial of Nelumbonaceae cultivated over 3,000 years in China for edible rhizomes, seeds, medicine, and religious symbolism; national flower of India and Vietnam.
Nemesia
Nemesia (Cape snapdragon) is a southern African genus of about 62–77 annual and perennial herbs in Scrophulariaceae, tribe Hemimerideae, with spurred two-lipped flowers; type species Nemesia strumosa, widely grown as bedding ornamentals.
Neolamarckia cadamba
Neolamarckia cadamba (kadamba, kadam, jabon, kelempayan, burflower tree) is a fast-growing evergreen Rubiaceae timber tree native from south China to tropical Asia, used for pulp, plywood, pencils, and matches.
Neoregelia
Neoregelia (blushing bromeliads) is a genus of about 100-116 tank bromeliads in Bromelioideae, native to South America, named for von Regel, grown for colorful foliage and flower once, then produce pups.
Neottia
Neottia, including the twayblades formerly placed in Listera, is a genus of 87 terrestrial orchid species native to the temperate and subarctic Northern Hemisphere, best known for the leafless bird's-nest orchid.
Neottieae
Neottieae (type genus Neottia) is a basal tribe of Epidendroideae orchids with about 150–200 species in six to seven genera across northern temperate forests, notable for repeated independent evolution of mycoheterotrophy and stepwise plastome degradation.
Nepenthes
Nepenthes, tropical pitcher plants of the paleotropics (c. 150-160 species), trap prey in fluid-filled pitcher leaves with acidic, sometimes viscoelastic digestive fluid; some species use bat or treeshrew coprophagy or detritivory instead of insects.
Nephelium
Nephelium is a Sapindaceae genus of 22 tropical Asian tree species from Indo-China to western Malesia, including rambutan (N. lappaceum) and pulasan (N. ramboutan-ake), fruit trees with arillate seeds.
Neptunia
Neptunia (water mimosa genus) is a pantropical legume genus in Fabaceae, Caesalpinioideae, Mimoseae, with about 20-22 species, two fully aquatic species (N. oleracea, N. plena), touch-sensitive bipinnate leaves, and the edible Thai vegetable water mimosa.
Nerine
Nerine (Guernsey lily) is a genus of about 25 accepted species of autumn-flowering bulbous Amaryllidaceae endemic to southern Africa, cultivated as ornamentals and a source of 53 Amaryllidaceae alkaloids including lycorine.
Nerium
Nerium (oleander, rose-bay) is a monotypic Apocynaceae genus whose single species, Nerium oleander L., is a toxic evergreen Mediterranean-to-Myanmar ornamental shrub containing cardiac glycosides, mainly oleandrin.
Neroli
Neroli is the steam-distilled essential oil of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium var. amara) blossoms, named after the Princess of Nerola; key note of eau de cologne, ~0.1% yield, mainly from Tunisia.
New Caledonian Araucaria
New Caledonian Araucaria: 13-14 endemic monkey puzzle tree species (Araucaria, section Eutacta) on New Caledonia, a recent 19-3 Ma radiation on nickel-rich ultramafic soils, with 11 of 14 species threatened by mining and fire.
Nian gao (年糕)
Nian gao (年糕) is a Chinese glutinous rice cake steamed and eaten at Lunar New Year; its name puns on 'higher year'. Cantonese sweet brown-sugar, Shanghai savory, and millet northern variants; offered to sweeten the kitchen god's mouth.
Nicandra
Nicandra Adans. (shoo-fly plant, apple-of-Peru) is a Solanaceae genus native to Peru and southern South America with three accepted species, the best known being Nicandra physalodes, an ornamental with an inflated fruiting calyx.
Nicolaus von Wirén
Nicolaus von Wirén is a German-Swedish agricultural biologist who studies nutrient uptake in crops, and has been Managing Director of the IPK plant genetics institute in Gatersleben since 2023.
Nicotiana
Nicotiana (tobacco genus), Solanaceae flowering plants named for Jean Nicot; 60–109 species native to the Americas, Australia, and Namibia; source of nicotine, with polyploid species including N. tabacum and model plant N. benthamiana.
Nicotiana benthamiana
Nicotiana benthamiana, an Australian solanaceous model plant, is prized for viral susceptibility from a nonfunctional NbRDR1 gene, agroinfiltration and VIGS tools, and use as a biofactory for recombinant proteins and vaccines.
Nicotiana glauca
Nicotiana glauca (tree tobacco, wild tobacco) is a South American Solanaceae shrub, 2–6 m tall, naturalized worldwide as a noxious weed; its leaves are dominated by toxic anabasine, causing fatal human and livestock poisoning.
Nicotiana glutinosa
Nicotiana glutinosa (glutinosa tobacco) is a viscid Andean Nicotiana species, Galapagos to W. Bolivia, described by Linnaeus 1753; source of the N gene for TMV resistance in commercial tobacco and a local-lesion indicator host.
Nicotiana rustica
Nicotiana rustica (Aztec tobacco, wild tobacco) is a South American allotetraploid tobacco species (2n=48, from N. paniculata and N. undulata) with 4–9.5% leaf nicotine, far stronger than N. tabacum, used for chewing tobacco, snuff, and nicotine extraction.
Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana tabacum, common tobacco, is an allotetraploid Solanaceae herb (2n=48) from Bolivia, derived from N. sylvestris and N. tomentosiformis; the leading commercial tobacco species, grown for nicotine-rich cured leaves.
Nigella sativa
Nigella sativa (black cumin, black seed, kalonji) is an annual Ranunculaceae herb native from Romania to Iran, grown for dark aromatic seeds rich in thymoquinone and linoleic acid, used as spice and in herbal medicine.
Night-blooming cereus
Night-blooming cereus, also called Reina de la noche, is a common name for at least four cactus species, including dragonfruit, whose large white flowers open for a single night.
Nixtamalization
Nixtamalization (Nahuatl nextli + tamali) is the alkaline lime- or ash-cooking and steeping of maize to make nixtamal and masa. It releases bound niacin, adds calcium, cuts mycotoxins, and prevents pellagra.
Nolana
Nolana (Nolanaceae, now Solanaceae) is a genus of about 92 species of fog-desert herbs and shrubs native to coastal Peru and Chile and the Galápagos, recognized by its hard mericarp fruits.