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In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single
Breeding a better pumpkin - Technology & science - Science , NBC News
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File:Asclepias amplexicaulis.jpg, Long pedicels of
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
to the inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''.
Description
Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absence of a pedicel, the flowers are described assessile
Sessility, or sessile, may refer to:
* Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about
* Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant
* Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
. Pedicel is also applied to the stem of the infructescence Infructescence (fruiting head) is defined as the ensemble of fruits derived from the ovaries of an inflorescence. It usually retains the size and structure of the inflorescence.
In some cases, infructescences are similar in appearance to simple fru ...
. The word "pedicel" is derived from the Latin ''pediculus'', meaning "little foot". The stem or branch from the main stem of the inflorescence that holds a group of pedicels is called a peduncle. A pedicel may be associated with a bract or bracts.
In cultivation
In Halloween types of pumpkin or squash plants, the shape of the pedicel has received particular attention because plant breeders are trying to optimize the size and shape of the pedicel for the best "lid" for a "jack-o'-lantern
A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phen ...
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Gallery
clasping milkweed
''Asclepias amplexicaulis'', the blunt-leaved milkweed, clasping milkweed, or sand milkweed, is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Asclepiadoideae (Apocynaceae). It is endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a s ...
with a single peduncle
File:314 Prunus avium.jpg, Cherry pedicels in flower and fruit
File:Cucurbita pedicel of mature fruit farmersmarket09093.jpg, Pumpkin pedicel
File:Leonurus cardiaca 0003.JPG, Sessile flowers (lacking pedicels) of common motherwort
See also
*Sessile
Sessility, or sessile, may refer to:
* Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about
* Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant
* Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
* Scape
References
Bibliography
* Plant morphology + {{botany-stub