lygodesmia

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of plants of the family Cichoriaceæ, perennial or annual herbs with usually rush-like stems, inconspicuous linear or scale-like leaves, and mostly terminal, narrow, erect heads of pink flowers. There aro about six species, all North American. The best-known is L. juncea (often called skeleton-weed and germ-weed), a native of the Great Plains, which now occurs as a weed in the cultivated fields of that region.