A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Pedicel, 'little foot,' a small stalk; the stalk of a single flower within an inflorescence, also it is of a single flower in the spikelet of a grass; the peduncle, q.v., subtends a solitary flower or the entire (compound) inflorescence; “the support of a single flower” (Fernald 1950); “pedicel, (obsol.) pediculus, a peduncle of a second or higher order, as in the raceme where the principal flower-stalk is the peduncle, and the lateral secondary ones are pedicels” (Lindley); a stalk that supports a fruiting or spore-bearing organ (the pedicel of a sporangium); one of the ultimate single flower-bearing divisions of a common peduncle (WIII): pedicellus,-i (s.m.II), abl. sg. pedicello, nom. pl. pedicelli, acc. pl. pedicellos, dat. & abl. pl. pedicellis; [> L. dim. of L. pediculus, little, foot, footstalk, > pes, gen. sg. pedis (s.m.III): the foot + dim. -cellus]:

- pedicelli 5 cm. longi filiformes glabri, pedicels 5 cm. long thread-like glabrous.

- pedicellis glabris perigonium aequantibus vel eo brevioribus, with pedicels glabrous equalling the perigon or shorter than this.

- spatha pedicellos initio aequans, demum iis duplo brevior, spathe at first equalling the pedicels, ultimately twice shorter than these (i.e. 1/2 their length). (Stearn)

- pedicellus sub fructo clavatus, the pedicel beneath the fruit clavate [i.e. club-shaped].

- pedicellis fructiferis calyce aliquoties capsula parum longioribus (F. Mueller), with the fruit-bearing pedicels several times [longer] than the calyx, s little longer than the capsule.

- (algae) Rhachis racemi angulata, sulcata, in pedicellum ultimum abeuns Pedicelli breves lineam longi, subaequales, recti, firmi. Terminalis ceteris duplo longior (Agardh), the rhachis of the raceme angled, sulcate, going out into a terminal pedicel. The pedicels short, a line long, nearly equal, straight, firm. The terminal one two times longer than the others.

- (algae) in speciminibus, quae ipse legi, pedicellum ultimum semper vesiculam sustentantem, neque unquam sterilem observavi (Agardh), in specimens which I myself collected, the ultimate pedicel always subtending the vesicle, nor have I ever observed to be sterile.

- (algae) capsulae obovatae, pedicello monoarticulato suffultae (Agardh), the capsules obovate, subtended by a pedicel with a single articulation.

- sporae maturae pedicello subhyalino ipsis duplo breviore suffultae, clavato-cylindraceae (Agardh), the mature spores subtended by a nearly hyaline pedicel two times shorter than the [spores] themselves, [the spores] clavate-cylindric.

- (algae) Keramidia urceolata proportionaliter magna, fronde duplo latiora, brevissimo pedicello ad ramulos superiores affixa (Agardh), the keramidia [i.e. sporophore] urceolate proportionally large, two times wider than the frond, attached to the upper branchlets by a very short pedicel.

NOTE: “pedicellus, pediculus, pedunculus, pes, petiolus: “the stipe of certain Fungals” (Lindley).

NOTE: ‘pedicel’ in the older literature was often used for the seta of a moss, i.e. the stalk on which the capsule is borne;

- (moss) capsula perbrevi crassiuscula in pedicello brevi (Mueller), the capsule very short, comswhat thick, on a short pedicel [i.e. seta].

- (moss) Fructus terminalis, solitarius, rarius geminus, alte pedicellatus. Pedicellus caule duplo terve longior, e basi geniculata oblique erectus, parum flexuosus, siccitate tortilis, tenuis, subcapillaris.apice in capsulam dilatatus, laevis, rubro-purpureus (DozyMoek), fruit terminal, solitary, rarely paired, tall-pedicellate. The Pedicel [i.e. seta] two or three times longer than the stem, geniculate from the base, obliquely erect, somewhat flexuose, when dry, twisted, thin, nearly hairlike, at the apex dilated into a capsule, smooth, red-purple.

- (moss) capsula erecta, cylindrica vel ovali-cylindrica, basi subinaequali in pedicellum attenuata, exsiccando plicata (DozyMoek), capsule erect, cylindric or oval-cylindric, somewhat asymmetrical at the base, narrowed into the pedicel [i.e. seta], after drying out, plicate.

NOTE: often abbreviated as ped.;

- (moss) theca in ped. apice arcuato flavido inclinata v. nutans orbicularis (Mueller), theca on a pedicel [ped. = pedicello] arcuate at the apex, yellowish, [the theca] inclined or nodding, orbicular [i.e. globose].

NOTE: pediculus,-i (s.m.II), abl. sg. pediculo, (obsol.) the pedicel.