| Name | Structure/ Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Legume | [Fruits] {type} | A usually dry fruit that splits open (dehisces) lengthwise along two sutures and has a single interior chamber (locule), as in the pea family (Fabaceae). |
| Lemma | A lemma is one of the floral scales in a spikelet of grass; the lemmas are located above the glumes. Lemmas usually occur in pairs in each spikelet, although sometimes they occur individually. Typically, one lemma in a pair is fertile and contains a floret, while the other lemma is sterile. The lemmas provide some protection for the reproductive organs of the florets and its developing seed (or grain). Like the glumes, the lemmas are often keeled and somewhat flattened. The fertile and infertile lemmas can appear nearly identical to each other, or their appearance may be somewhat different from each other. Sometimes the tips of the lemmas are awned. | |
| Lenticel | The specialized openings in the bark of some woody stems that provide a passage for gas exchange, often appearing as small, circular to elongate marks on the surface of the bark. | |
| Lepidote | Covered with small scales. | |
| Ligule | A structure on the inner side of a leaf at the junction of the sheath and blade. This structure consists of thickened tissue that may contain papery membranes or a row of hairs. The characteristics of a ligule are more observable when the blade of a leaf is pulled away from the culm. Sometimes the ligule is used in the identification of grasses and sedges. | |
| Linear | [Leaflets, Leaves, Petals, Phyllaries, Sepals] {shape} | Long and narrow, with the sides more or less straight and parallel. (Compare with acicular, ensiform, filiform and lorate.) |
| Lobe | A more or less major protrusion or segment of a leaf or leaflet delimited by concavities (sinuses) in the leaf margin. | |
| Locule | A distinct compartment or cavity within organs such as ovaries, anthers or fruits. | |
| Loculicidal capsule | [Fruits] {type} | A capsule that splits open (dehisces) lengthwise directly into the locules or chambers of the ovary, more or less midway between the ovary partitions. |
| Loment | [Fruits] {type} | A usually dry fruit that breaks apart crosswise at points of constriction into one-seeded segments, as in beggars ticks (Desmodium); considered to be a modified legume. |
