panicle

American  

[pan-i-kuhl] / ˈpæn ɪ kəl /

noun

Botany.

1. a compound raceme.

2. any loose, diversely branching flower cluster.

---

panicle British  

/ ˈpænɪkəl /

noun

1. a compound raceme, occurring esp in grasses

2. any branched inflorescence

---

panicle Scientific  

/ păn′ĭ-kəl /

1. A branched indeterminate inflorescence in which the branches are racemes, so that each flower has its own stalk (called a pedicel) attached to the branch. Oats and sorghum have panicles.

2. See illustration at inflorescence

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• panicled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of panicle

1590–1600; < Latin pānicula tuft (on plants), diminutive of pānus thread wound on a bobbin, a swelling, ear of millet < Doric Greek pânos ( Attic pênos ) a web; see -i-, -cle ¹

Example Sentences

Panicle hydrangeas, also known as PeeGee hydrangeas, are easy and reliable.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 23, 2022

F. Myùrus, L. Panicle spike-like, one-sided; spikelets about 5-flowered; lower glumes very unequal; awn much longer than the flowering glume, fully 6´´ in length; stamen 1.—Dry fields, Nantucket, Mass., to Del., and southward.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Panicle more or less spreading after flowering; ligule short and truncate.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Panicle simple or sparingly branched; the rather large spikelets racemose-one-sided.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

The Panicle and Pelican Have often been confused; The letters which spell Pelican In Panicle are used.

From How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers by Wood, Robert Williams