Definition of "ligule" [lig•ule]

• A straplike structure, such as the corolla of a ray flower or a membranous or hairy appendage between the sheaf and blade of a grass leaf. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The _ligule_ consists of only a thin ridge of short hairs densely arranged."
• "The _ligule_ is only a smooth semilunar line without hairs."
• "The _ligule_ consists of a fringe of minute hairs."