Auricles are claw-like appendages which project from the collar, one from each side. When 

 present they may be large and conspicuous, as in barley, or small and slender as in the ryegrasses 

 and quackgrass. The auricles of wheat and tall fescue generally are more or less hairy. 



4. Collar 



The collar is a band, generally much lighter in color, marking the division between the sheath 

 and the blade. It may be a broad or narrow band continuous from one margin to the other or it 

 may be divided by a darker green midrib. Broad collars, whether continuous or divided, are most 



111' 11 """"//!! 



Nil I HI II t 111)1 



V"". 







Broad 



Narrow 



Divided 



W0& 



Oblique Hairy Margins hairy 



generally narrow in the midrib area and may be said to resemble two letter V's placed point to 

 point. The surface of the collar, viewed with the bottom of the blade upward, is generally smooth 

 but may be rather uniformly hairy or have long or short hairs only on the margins. The hairs on 

 the collar margins are sometimes conspicuously long or dense. 



5. Ligule 



The ligule is an upward-pointing growth found on the inside of the leaf at the junction of the 

 blade and sheath. It may be a thin membrane or a fringe of hairs or may be absent as in barnyard 



Ligule Types 



Absent 



Membranous 



Fringe of hairs 



Fringe of hairs 

 fused at base 



