rachilla

American  

[ruh-kil-uh] / rəˈkɪl ə /

noun

Botany.

• rachillae
  plural

1. a small or secondary rachis, as the axis of a spikelet in a grass inflorescence.

---

rachilla British  

/ rəˈkɪlə /

noun

1. (in grasses) the short stem of a spikelet that bears the florets

---

rachilla Scientific  

/ rə-kĭl′ə /

• rachillae
  plural

1. The stalk that bears the florets in the spikelets of grasses and similar plants, such as rushes and sedges. The rachilla often has a zigzag shape, with florets at each point at which the orientation of the rachilla turns.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• rachillae
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of rachilla

1835–45; < New Latin, diminutive of rachis rachis

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rachilla

In many-flowered spikelets the rachilla is often jointed and breaks into as many pieces as there are fruits, each piece bearing a glume and pale.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

The second glume is longer than the first, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, narrowed towards the base, inserted much above the first glume and embracing the rachilla, 3-nerved, scaberulous along the mid-nerve at the base only.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari

But the rachilla of the spikelet may be jointed just above the empty glumes or between the flowering glumes.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari

Spikelets are 2-flowered, narrow, biseriate, unilateral, imbricate on the rachis of a solitary spike; the rachilla is elongate between the flowering glumes and produced beyond them and terminates in a rudimentary awned glume.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari

Spikelets are very small, compressed, 1- to 6-flowered, sessile or shortly pedicelled, alternate and unilateral on the branches of a panicle; the rachilla is produced between the flowering glumes, jointed at the base.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---