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a bristlelike appendage of a plant, especially on the glumes of grasses.
such appendages collectively, as those forming the beard of wheat, barley, etc.
any similar bristle.
Historical Examples

The reader is probably acquainted with the Fescue Grass, with its awned flowers arranged in one-sided panicles.
The Sea Shore William S. Furneaux

Agropyrum repens is also often awned and may be described here (see also p. 150).
Grasses H. Marshall Ward

It is doubtful whether these should not be regarded as awned: if so they come near Nardus—see p. 130.
Grasses H. Marshall Ward

Stamens 10; anthers 2-celled, awned on the back, opening lengthwise.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Asa Gray

The fourth glume is very minute, awned and is borne by a rachilla produced to half the length of the third glume.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

awned or Awn-pointed, furnished with an awn or long bristle-shaped tip, 54.
The Elements of Botany Asa Gray

Scales imbricated in many ranks, awned below the apex, all floriferous.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Asa Gray

Spikelets are solitary, binate or fasciculate, 2-flowered, jointed on the pedicel and awned.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

All of them may be awned as in Chloris or only the fourth glume as in Andropogon.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

The flowering glume is awned, strongly 5-nerved, nerves scabrid and ciliate, the lateral nerves being marginal.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

noun
any of the bristles growing from the spikelets of certain grasses, including cereals
n.

“bristly fibers on grain of plants,” c.1300, from Old Norse ögn, from Proto-Germanic *agano (cf. Old English egenu, Old High German agana, German Ahne, Gothic ahana), from PIE *ak-ona- (cf. Sanskrit asani- “arrowhead,” Greek akhne “husk of wheat,” Latin acus “chaff,” Lithuanian akuotas “beard, awn”); suffixed form of PIE root *ak- “sharp” (see acrid).
awn
(ôn)

A slender, bristlelike appendage found on the spikelets of many grasses.