Ligule (Noun)
Meaning
(botany) any appendage to a plant that is shaped like a strap.
Classification
Nouns denoting plants.
Examples
- The corn plant had a ligule at the base of its leaf blade where it met the sheath.
- Orchids are often identified by the shape and appearance of the ligule on their modified leaves called bracts.
- A ligule shapes like a strap usually forms the midrib on the leaf blades of a grass.
- Certain plants have a scale-like, membranous ligule at the junction of their leaf sheath and the blade.
- In many grasses and sedges, a ligule protects the shoot apical meristem from damage.