raceme

American  

[rey-seem, ruh-] / reɪˈsim, rə- /

noun

Botany.

1. a simple indeterminate inflorescence in which the flowers are borne on short pedicels lying along a common axis, as in the lily of the valley.

2. a compound inflorescence in which the short pedicels with single flowers of the simple raceme are replaced by racemes.

---

raceme British  

/ rəˈsiːm /

noun

1. an inflorescence in which the flowers are borne along the main stem, with the oldest flowers at the base. It can be simple, as in the foxglove, or compound See panicle

---

raceme Scientific  

/ rə-sēm′ /

1. An indeterminate inflorescence in which each flower grows on its own stalk from a common stem. The lily of the valley and snapdragon have racemes.

2. See illustration at inflorescence

---

Other Word Forms

• racemed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of raceme

First recorded in 1775–85, raceme is from the Latin word racēmus cluster of grapes, bunch of berries

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

raceme

I know the difference between a raceme and a rhizome, I explicate photosynthesis, I can spell Scrofulariaciae.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Seeds oblong, horizontal.—Slender perennials, mostly tufted, with short or creeping rhizomes, and simple stems leafy only at the base, bearing small flowers in a close raceme or spike.

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 Asa Gray

Scape.—Two to five feet high; with scattered leaves; bearing at top a dense raceme a foot or two long.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Mary Elizabeth Parsons

Ours perennials, 1–2° high, with narrow and soon involute leaves, hairy sheaths bearded at the throat, and a small simple panicle or raceme of about 7-flowered spikelets.

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 Asa Gray

Spikelets imbricated-spiked on the branches of the simple or compound raceme or panicle, usually rough with appressed stiff hairs; lower palet of the sterile flower awl-pointed or awned.

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 Asa Gray