raceme

American  

[rey-seem, ruh-] / reɪˈsim, rə- /

noun

Botany.

1. a simple indeterminate inflorescence in which the flowers are borne on short pedicels lying along a common axis, as in the lily of the valley.

2. a compound inflorescence in which the short pedicels with single flowers of the simple raceme are replaced by racemes.

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raceme British  

/ rəˈsiːm /

noun

1. an inflorescence in which the flowers are borne along the main stem, with the oldest flowers at the base. It can be simple, as in the foxglove, or compound See panicle

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raceme Scientific  

/ rə-sēm′ /

1. An indeterminate inflorescence in which each flower grows on its own stalk from a common stem. The lily of the valley and snapdragon have racemes.

2. See illustration at inflorescence

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Other Word Forms

• racemed adjective

Etymology

Origin of raceme

First recorded in 1775–85, raceme is from the Latin word racēmus cluster of grapes, bunch of berries

Example Sentences

I know the difference between a raceme and a rhizome, I explicate photosynthesis, I can spell Scrofulariaciae.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Stigmas plumose.—Perennials, with rigid leaves and a narrow raceme or panicle.

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

Flowers.—White; few; in a simple terminal raceme, on pedicels two to seven lines long.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

Scape 1° high or more; leaves keeled; raceme elongated; bracts longer than the pedicels; sepals pale blue, 3-nerved, 4–7´´ long; capsule acutely triangular-globose.

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

Spikelets imbricated-spiked on the branches of the simple or compound raceme or panicle, usually rough with appressed stiff hairs; lower palet of the sterile flower awl-pointed or awned.

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