Glossary 
annual . A plant that completes its life cycle in 1 year or less. 
auricle. An ear-shaped projection or appendage. 
auxiliary. Additional, supplemental. 
awn. A bristlelike appendage, often the extension of nerves or 
veins in glumes and lemmas. 
axil. The angle between an organ and its axis. Applied espe- 
cially to the angle between a leaf and its stem and between a 
branch or pedicel and its axis. 
axillary. Growing in an axil. 
axis. The main stem of a seedhead, especially of a panicle. 
barb. A hooked hair or bristle. 
blade. The upper expanded part of a grass leaf. 
brackish. Mixed with salt. 
bract. A reduced or modified leaf. 
bristle. Any short, stiff, hairlike growth. 
bunch grass. A grass that habitually grows in a well-defined tuft, 
as opposed to one that spreads by long stolons or rhizomes. 
cleistogene. Self-pollinated seed that is produced between the 
basal sheath and stem or in subterranean spikelets. 
collar. The outside area of a grass leaf where blade and sheath 
join. 
colony. A group of plants of the same species. 
composition. A mixture of various species of plants. 
compressed. Flattened laterally; if the organ is also sharply 
keeled, it is said to be compressed-keeled. 
cool-season grasses. Grasses that make their active growth in 
winter, early spring, or late fall. 
culm. The stem of a grass. 
decreaser. A plant that decreases as the result of overgrazing. 
decumbent. Said of stems which curve upward from a horizontal 
or inclined base. 
dissected. Cut or divided into parts. 
disseminate. To scatter or spread seed for growth. 
dominant. Superior to the other grasses with which it is asso- 
ciated. 
filiform. Threadlike. 
floret. The lemma and palea with included flower. In grasses, the 
floret is a unit of a spikelet. 
forage. Parts of plants eaten by wild and domestic animals. 
glumes. The pair of bracts at the base of a grass spikelet. 
hybridize. Interbreed ; crossbreed ; to produce or cause to produce 
hybrids. 
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