A GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 41 



LIGULE, a small membranous bract embracing the stem of grasses 



and forming part of the sheath. 

 LIMB, the broader part of a petal or leaf. 

 LINEAR, very narrow and with parallel edges. 

 LOBES, the divisions of a leaf, calyx, or corolla in a broad sense. 

 LYRATE, applied to a pinnatifid leaf with a rounded terminal lobe 



and smaller divisions towards the base, as in Geum montanum. 



MEMBRANOUS, thin and transparent like a membrane. 



MIDRIB, the principal vein of a leaf. 



MONOCOTYLEDON, a plant having only one seed-leaf. Grasses, 



Sedges, Lilies, and many bulbous and tuberous plants are 



Monocotyledons. 

 MONCECIOUS plants are those which have the stamens and pistil in 



separate flowers, but on the same plant. 

 MUCRONATE, suddenly terminated by a short and stiff point or 



needle, called a mucro. In leaves it is the prolongation of the 



midrib. 



NATURALISED, of foreign origin, but established and growing 



naturally in a country. 



NECTARY, an organ secreting nectar or honey. 

 NITROGENOUS, containing nitrogen. 

 NODE, the point of insertion of a leaf on a stem. 

 NUT, a dry fruit with a hard, woody shell or pericarp. 



OBCORDATE, inversely heart-shaped. 



OBOVATE, inversely egg-shaped. 



OBTUSE, more or less rounded at the top. 



OFFSET, the bud at the end of a runner or stolon. 



OPPOSITE, applied to leaves which are in pairs at the same level 



on the stem ; cf. Alternate. 

 ORBICULAR, round, spherical. 

 OVARY, a carpel enclosing one or more ovules. 

 OVULE, the embryo seed enclosed in the ovary. 



PALEACEOUS, chaffy. 



PALE.E, or CHAFF, the inner bracts or scales in Composite, Grami- 

 nece, etc. 



PALMATE, divided like a hand into several lobes. 



PANICLE, a branched raceme. 



PAPPUS, a feathery appendage of the seed of many Compositce. 



PARASITE, a plant living on or in another (the host) from which it 

 derives part of its food ; e.g. Orobanche. Semi-parasites in- 

 clude Pedicularis, Rhinanthus, Euphrasia, etc. 



PATENT, spreading open. 



PECTINATE, finely divided like the teeth of a comb, 



