rachilla

[ ruh-kil-uh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Botany.

, plural ra·chil·lae [r, uh, -, kil, -ee].

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

rachilla

/ rəˈkɪlə /

rachilla

/ rə-kĭl′ə /

, Plural rachillae rə-kĭl′ē

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.

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

C19: from New Latin, diminutive of rachis

The third and the subsequent glumes are regularly arranged on the slender rachilla alternately in two rows.

This prolonged rachilla sometimes bears a minute glume, which is of course rudimentary.

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

The rachilla is jointed just above the empty glumes and it is produced or not beyond the flowering glumes.

The rachilla is produced behind the palea and it ends in two small teeth, one being slightly larger than the other.

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