Comparative morphology of lodicules in grasses

Lodicules are basically peltate-ascidiate phyllomes, as are many other perianth appendages in Monocotyledons. Their structure is especially obvious in Zea and several Andropogonoideae and Panicoideae. In various genera of the Panicoideae and in Oryza they are fundamentally ascidiate but longitudinally split on their distal sides. Lodicules of the Festucoideae, with their dorsal wings, are easily derived from the latter, and so are probably at least some bambusoid lodicules. These findings lend support to the classical interpretation of lodicules as discrete perianth appendages.