raceme

American  

[ray-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.

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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

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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

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Other Word Forms

• racemed
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of raceme

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

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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 smooth, flattened, and packed horizontally in 2 rows.—Perennials, with ample 2–3-ternately compound leaves, the ovate leaflets sharply cleft and toothed, and a short and thick terminal raceme of white flowers.

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

Stem bearing a pair of opposite sessile leaves in the middle, and a spike or raceme of greenish or brownish-purple small flowers.

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

Berry globular, 1–2-seeded.—Perennial herbs, with simple stems from creeping or thickish rootstocks, alternate nerved mostly sessile leaves, and white, sometimes fragrant flowers in a terminal and simple or compound raceme.

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

Capsule oblong or obovate, 3-angled, loculicidal, 3-valved, with several black roundish seeds in each cell.—Scape and linear leaves from a coated bulb; the flowers in a simple raceme, mostly bracted, on jointed pedicels.

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

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