spikelet

American  

[spahyk-lit] / ˈspaɪk lɪt /

noun

Botany.

1. a small or secondary spike in grasses; one of the flower clusters, the unit of inflorescence, consisting of two or more flowers and subtended by one or more glumes variously disposed around a common axis.

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spikelet British  

/ ˈspaɪklɪt /

noun

1. botany the unit of a grass inflorescence, typically consisting of two bracts (glumes) surrounding one or more florets, each of which is itself surrounded by two bracts See lemma 1 palea

2. the small inflorescence of plants of other families, esp the sedges

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spikelet Scientific  

/ spīk′lĭt /

1. A small spike, especially one that is part of the characteristic inflorescence of grasses and sedges. A grass spikelet consists of one or more florets (reduced flowers). Each floret contains a pistil and stamens and is enclosed by two bracts, the lemma and the palea. At the base of the entire spikelet are two additional scalelike bracts, the glumes.

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Etymology

Origin of spikelet

First recorded in 1785–95; spike ² + -let

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spikelet

On my desk, now, there’s a glass vial containing a single ear of wheat, each spikelet charred black at its edges.

From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2022

Axis of the spikelet beset with conspicuous long hairs about equaling the lemmas; tall marsh grass 1-4 m. high Reed, Phragmites communis. 30b.

From The Plants of Michigan Simple Keys for the Identification of the Native Seed Plants of the State by Gleason, Henry Allan

Short spikes may fall from the culm as a whole; or the axis of a spike or raceme is jointed so that one spikelet falls with each joint as in many Andropogoneae and Hordeae.

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

Each spikelet with its chaff adheres to two empty glumes, stout, thick, and spongy, which make a safe double boat for transportation down stream whenever the water is high enough.

From Seed Dispersal by Beal, W. J. (William James)

Achene lenticular, the edge turned to the rhachis; spikelet flattened, many flowered; rhachis narrow, not winged.

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