Ear of wheat
In botany, spike refers to a type of inflorescence with an elongated main axis on which single sessile flowers sit.
construction
An ear ( Spica ) is an unbranched inflorescence with an elongated main axis, the spindle ( Rhachis spicae ). If this main axis is fleshy, it is called a piston ( spadix ). The single flowers are sessile on the spindle of an ear. In most ears, the lowest flowers bloom first ( basitonia ).
Ear of broad plantain
The spindle of the narrow-leaved cottongrass
Modifications to the basic plan
Occasionally there are transitional forms to the grape , which are characterized by stalked flowers. For example, in the genus of the twisted root there are indistinct flower stalks on the lower flowers.
In sweet and sour grasses, there are spikelets instead of individual flowers.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Focko Weberling : Morphology of the flowers and the inflorescences. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1981, p. 216.
- ↑ Focko Weberling: Morphology of the flowers and the inflorescences. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1981, p. 217.