INSIDE A GRASS SPIKELET

 Have you ever wondered what is inside a Grass spikelet. A grass spikelet consists of several florets enclosed by a pair of protective glumes. The glumes can be considered as bracts and the florets can be considered as flowers. Each floret has an outer covering called the lemma and an inner covering called the palea. They are comparable to the perianth (petals/sepals) of a flower. Inside the lemma and palea, the reproductive structures, namely three stamens and an gynoecium consisting of an ovary, style and usually a bifid feathery stigma is present. The opening of the floret during anthesis is facilitated by a pair of small hygroscopic scale like structures called lodicules. A detailed and labelled image of an open spikelet of Poa is given below.