caryopsis

American  

[kar-ee-op-sis] / ˌkær iˈɒp sɪs /

noun

Botany.

plural

caryopses, caryopsides

1. a small, one-celled, one-seeded, dry indehiscent fruit with the pericarp adherent to the seed coat, the typical fruit of grasses and grains.

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caryopsis British  

/ ˌkærɪˈɒpsɪs /

noun

1. a dry seedlike fruit having the pericarp fused to the seed coat of the single seed: produced by the grasses

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caryopsis Scientific  

/ kăr′ē-ŏp′sĭs /

plural

caryopses

1. A small, dry, one-seeded fruit of a cereal grass, having the fruit and the seed walls united.

2. Also called grain

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Etymology

Origin of caryopsis

First recorded in 1820–30; cary(o)- + -opsis

Example Sentences

Fruit oval, flat, with the outer face rather convex and the inner concave, sharp-margined, a caryopsis, i.e. the thin pericarp adherent to the vertical seed.

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

Such a fruit is termed a caryopsis or grain.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.

The caryopsis consists of an embryo on one side at the base and the endosperm occupies the remaining portion.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.

As an illustration of the caryopsis, the grain of Andropogon Sorghum may be studied.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.

Gnaphalium, 166Golden pepper-grass, 136Goosefoot, 125Goosefoot family, 124 Grain, the caryopsis or fruit of Gramineae; any small seed.

From Seeds of Michigan Weeds Bulletin 260, Michigan State Agricultural College Experiment Station, Division of Botany, March, 1910 by Beal, W. J. (William James)

Related Words

• kernel