botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, a spadix ( ; : spadices , ) is a type of

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

having small

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s borne on a fleshy stem. Spadices are typical of the family

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

, the arums or aroids. The spadix is typically surrounded by a leaf-like curved

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

known as a

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

. For example, the "flower" of the well known ''

Anthurium ''Anthurium'' (; Schott, 1829) is a genus of about 1,000Mantovani, A. and T. E. Pereira. (2005)''Anthurium'' (section ''Urospadix''; subsection ''Flavescentiviridia'').''Rodriguesia'' 56(88), 145–60. species of flowering plants, the largest g ...

'' spp. is a typical spadix with a large colorful spathe. In this type of

, the peduncle is thick, long and fleshy, having small sessile

unisexual flowers Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction. Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the reproductive st ...

covered with one or more large green or colourful

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...

(spathe). Spadix inflorescence is found in

colocasia ''Colocasia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Some species are widely cultivated and naturalized in other tropical and subtropical regions. The names elephant-ear and ...

, aroids,

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

and palms (palms have compound spadix).

Monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

aroids have unisexual male and female flowers on the same individual and the spadix is usually organized with female flowers towards the bottom and male flowers towards the top. Typically, the stigmas are no longer receptive when pollen is released which prevents self-

fertilization Fertilisation or fertilization (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give ...

. In the compound spadix inflorescence, the axis is branched. Usually the whole inflorescence is covered by a stiff boat-shaped hood, for example the

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

(palms). In many arums with unisexual (imperfect) spadices, the upper portion of the spadix contains infertile male flowers and is referred to as the appendix. The appendix in certain species, such as ''

Amorphophallus paeoniifolius ''Amorphophallus paeoniifolius'', the elephant foot yam or whitespot giant arum, is a tropical plant native to Island Southeast Asia. It is cultivated for its edible tubers in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Madagascar, New Guinea, and the Pacific ...

'', is enlarged, highly modified and shows variability in shape. In ''

Arum maculatum ''Arum maculatum'', commonly known as cuckoopint, jack-in-the-pulpit and other names (see common names), is a woodland flowering plant species in the family Araceae. It is native across most of Europe, as well as Eastern Turkey and the Caucasus. ...

'' the appendix length increases more rapidly with total spadix length than either the male or female zones. Male florets and the appendix may participate in

thermogenesis Thermogenesis is the process of heat production in organisms. It occurs in all warm-blooded animals, and also in a few species of thermogenic plants such as the Eastern skunk cabbage, the Voodoo lily ('' Sauromatum venosum''), and the giant w ...

. The appendix may have additional specializations for

odorant An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavoring or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficien ...

production.

Gallery

Image:Arum flower.jpg, Elephant ear or ape flower (''

Xanthosoma sagittifolium ''Xanthosoma sagittifolium'', or tannia, is a tropical flowering plant from the family Araceae. It produces an edible, starchy corm. ''X. sagittifolium'' is native to tropical America where it has been first cultivated. Around the 19th century, t ...

'') with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe Image:Anthurium scherzerianum 2.jpg, ''

scherzerianum''

with

and spadix Image:Spathiphyllum floribundum1.jpg, Spadix of ''

Spathiphyllum ''Spathiphyllum'' is a genus of about 60 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas and southeastern Asia. Certain species of ''Spathiphyllum'' are commonly known as spath or pea ...

floribundum'' Image:Titan-arum1web.jpg,

Titan arum The titan arum (''Amorphophallus titanum'') is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has a large unbranched inflorescence; a tall single leaf, branched like a tree; and a heavy tuber which enables the plant to produce the inflorescence. ' ...

(''Amorphophallus titanum'') spadix at the

United States Botanic Garden The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is a botanical garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., near the James A. Garfield Monument. The Botanic Garden is supervised by the United States Congress, Congress throug ...

Image:Flamingo Flower.JPG, Flamingo Lily (''

Anthurium andraeanum ''Anthurium andraeanum'' is a flowering plant species in the family Araceae that is native to Colombia and Ecuador. It is a winner of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Names Common names for plants in the genus ''Anthurium ...

'') at the

Image:Jack in the pupit.jpg, Jack in the Pulpit (''

Arisaema triphyllum ''Arisaema triphyllum'', the Jack-in-the-pulpit, is a species of flowering plant in the arum family Araceae. It is a member of the ''Arisaema triphyllum'' complex, a group of four or five closely related taxa in eastern North America. The specif ...

'') in the

Allegheny National Forest The Allegheny National Forest is a National Forest in Northwestern Pennsylvania, about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The forest covers of land. Within the forest is Kinzua Dam, which impounds the Allegheny River to form Allegheny Reserv ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

) Image:Funchal - Zantedeschia aethiopica IMG 1904.JPG, Calla lily (''

Zantedeschia aethiopica ''Zantedeschia aethiopica'', commonly known as calla lily and arum lily, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa in Lesotho, South Africa, and Eswatini. Description ''Zantedeschia aethiopica'' is a rhizo ...

'') in

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

Image:Spadix of Spathiphyllum wallisii.JPG, Spadix of ''

'' in Brazil Image:Typha latifolia nf.jpg, Spadix of ''

Typha latifolia ''Typha latifolia'' is a perennial herbaceous wetland plant in the genus ''Typha''. It is known in English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ''Collins Flower Guide''. Harper Collins (sometimes as common b ...

'' Image:Zantedeschia Spadix.jpg, Spadix of '' Zantedeschia elliottiana'' cultivar showing male flowers above with pollen and female below Image:Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum RTBG.jpg, Peace lily (''

Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum ''Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum'' is a plant species in the family Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanie ...

'') clearly showing the characteristic spadix and spathe of the genus Image:Solitary flower of ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia).jpg, Spadix of ZZ plant (''

Zamioculcas zamiifolia ''Zamioculcas'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, containing the single species ''Zamioculcas zamiifolia.'' It is a tropical herbaceous perennial plant, and is native to eastern Africa, including Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi ...

'') with curled back spathe

Gallery

References

Further reading