ament, amentum

[Lat. amentum = (1) a strap or thong tied about the middle of a javelin or dart to give it rotation, increase the force with which it was thrown, and recover it afterwards; (2) a latchet with which to bind sandals.] Bot. A kind of inflorescence, the same that is now called a catkin , and to which the old authors also applied the designations of catu lus , iulus , and nucamentum. An amentum is IMG:content-0454.jpg:[blocks in formation] a spike, which has its flowers destitute of calyx and corolla, their place being supplied by bracts, and which falls off in a single piece, either after the flowers have withered, or when the fruit has ripened. Examples: the hazel, the alder, the willows, the poplars, .