ligule

[ lig-yool ]

/ ˈlɪg yul /

noun Botany.

a thin, membranous outgrowth from the base of the blade of most grasses.

a strap-shaped corolla, as in the ray flowers of the head of certain composite plants.

Nearby words

Origin of ligule

1595–1605; < Latin ligula; see ligula

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ligule

The ligule is a fringe of close-set hairs on an inconspicuous ridge.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
From Holcus it is easily distinguished by the sheaths, ligule and soft hairs of that genus.
Grasses|H. Marshall Ward
Molinia also has a tuft of hairs instead of a ligule, and a split sheath, and its habit is different.
Grasses|H. Marshall Ward
The ligule is a short thin membrane with very short cilia on the free margin.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

Sheath of the leaves usually more or less extended above the base of the blade into a scarious appendage (ligule).
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States|Asa Gray

British Dictionary definitions for ligule

ligule

ligula

/ (ˈlɪɡjuːl) /

noun

a membranous outgrowth at the junction between the leaf blade and sheath in many grasses and sedges

a strap-shaped corolla, such as that of a ray floret in the daisy

Word Origin for ligule

C19: via French, from Latin ligula strap, variant of lingula, from lingua tongue

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for ligule

ligule

[ lĭg′yōōl ]

A straplike structure, such as the long flattened lobe of the corolla of a ray flower or a membranous or hairy appendage between the sheath and blade of a grass leaf.