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

lignum, lignum vitae, ligroin, ligula, ligulate, ligule, ligure, liguria, ligurian, ligurian republic, ligurian sea

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.