EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -In Poaceae, the grass family, a spikelet consists of two (or sometimes fewer) bracts at the base, called glumes, followed by one or more florets. A floret consists of the flower surrounded by two bracts, one external-the lemma-and one internal-the palea.

Detailed explanation-2: -Inflorescence development in the grass family (Poaceae) begins when the shoot apical meristem converts from its vegetative state, producing leaves on its flanks, to an inflorescence meristem.

Detailed explanation-3: -Spike spikelet: Spikelets are sessile and attached directly to the rachis or panicle branches (compound spike) without pedicel. Examples: Hordeum, ryegrass, Triticum aestivum (Wheat), etc.

Detailed explanation-4: -In inflorescence: Indeterminate inflorescence. A spike is a raceme, but the flowers develop directly from the stem and are not borne on pedicels, as in barley (Hordeum). A spike is a raceme except that the flowers are attached directly to the axis at the axil of each leaf rather than to a pedicel.

Detailed explanation-5: -Spikelets grow at the nodes, constituting modified shoots (Figure 2b). Two glumes, located at the base of each spikelet, are shorter than the rest of lemmas in florets. In floret the grain is enclosed between two pales (the palea, from the inside, and the lemma, from the outside).