Panicle

• The inflorescence of rice plant, borne on terminal shoot and thus called as panicle.
• It is determinate type and at maturity, it is droopy in nature.

                                              

                                                        Fig: A flowered rice spikelet

Spikelet

• A spikelet is the floral unit and consists of two sterile lemmas, a lemma, a palea and the flower.
• Its parts are:
  
  1. Lemma: It is a 5- nerved hardened bract with a filiform extension (of the middle nerve) known as awn.
  2. Palea: IT is a 3- nerved bract slightly narrower than lemma.
  3. Flower: It consists of 6 stamens with two-celled anthers and a pistil with one ovary and two stigmas. The pistil contains one ovule.