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Cuticle facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Fingernail label
Eponychium is the anatomical term for the human cuticle

In biology, a cuticle is something that covers the outside of living things called organisms. Cuticles are usually tough but also bendable. In plants, cuticles in the leaves help it from losing too much water by evaporation.

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  • Hydrophobic Hosta

    Epicuticular wax covering the cuticle of a leaf of Hosta sieboldiana makes it hydrophobic. Water, unable to wet the cuticle, beads up and runs off, carrying dust and soluble contamination with it. This self-cleaning property is variously called "ultrahydrophobicity" or "ultralyophobicity" in technical journals. More popularly it is known as the Lotus effect.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cutícula para niños

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Cuticle Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.