Floret
Definition
The basic reproductive unit of a grass spikelet, consisting of the lemma, palea, and the enclosed flower. Floret morphology, including lemma surface, awn presence, and palea texture, is the primary character set for grass identification from physical fragments.
Related terms
- Caryopsis
- The grain of a grass: a single-seeded fruit in which the seed coat is fused to the ovary wall. Shape, size, and...
- Lemma
- The lower of the two bracts enclosing the grass floret. Its surface texture, venation, awn character, and marginal features are major identification...
- Morphotype
- A phytolith shape class defined by the geometry of the silica body: bilobate, cross-shaped, saddle-shaped, elongate, dendritic, and so on. Individual morphotypes...
- Phytolith
- Opaline silica body precipitated in or between plant cells during growth. Grass phytoliths are produced in high quantities and persist in soil...
- Subfamilies Panicoideae and Chloridoideae
- Two of the major grass subfamilies. Panicoideae (warm-season C4 grasses of humid tropics and subtropics) are characterised by bilobate and cross-shaped phytoliths....
Explained in
- Grass and Grass Phytolith AnalysisThe basic reproductive unit of a grass spikelet, consisting of the lemma, palea, and the enclosed flower. Floret morphology, including lemma surface, awn prese...