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.

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rachilla British  

/ rəˈkɪlə /

noun

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

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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.

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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

Sometimes the rachilla is articulated between the flowers.

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

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 Rangachari, K.

In Eriochloa it is reduced to a minute ridge lying just close to the swollen ring-like joint of the rachilla.

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

The spikelets are small, shortly stalked, 4- to 8-flowered, 1/10 to 1/6 inch with the rachilla produced between the flowering glumes.

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