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

Glume; Glumes are the husks or floral coverings of Grasses, or, particularly, the outer husks or bracts of each spikelet.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa

Flower with a single very minute hyaline scale next the axis of the spikelet; bristles none.

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

One of the bracts in the spikelet of a grass, and described in the treatment of that family.

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

The axis of the spikelet is frequently jointed and breaks up into articulations above each flower.

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